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SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 
AND EDUCATION 



BY 

M. V. O'SHEA 

Professor of Education, The University of Wisconsin 

Author of " Education as Adjustment,'''' " Dynamic Factors in 

Education,'''' " Linguistic Development 

and Education,'''' etc. 




BOSTON, NEW YORK AND CHICAGO 

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
0OZ iSiber^ibe ^xt^iy CambtitJse 



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COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY M. V. O'SHEA 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



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TO 
MY FATHER AND MOTHER 



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PREFACE 

In Part I of this volume, I have attempted first to describe 
the typical attitudes which the child tends to assume to- 
ward the persons with whom he comes into contact in the 
ordinary situations of daily life, and to explain these atti- 
tudes in view of certain fundamental principles of mental 
development. To this end I have presented the results of 
observations of children's reactions under a variety of so- 
cial conditions, the aim being to detect if possible the 
" natural" or impulsive tendencies in their responses. Then, 
in the second place, it has been my purpose to trace the 
changes in the child's adjustments to people which seem 
normally to occur in the process of development. This has 
required a mode of procedure in which the individual is 
followed from infancy to maturity along the several routes 
which lead to efficiency in social adaptation ; and the ever- 
present question has been whether the child woidd on his 
own initiative foUow these routes, or whether if left to him- 
self he would stop on the way, or turn off in other directions. 
It has been my constant effort to note the actual tendencies 
of the child at different stages in his evolution, without 
regard to prevailing popular or theoretical conceptions of 
what he is or what he ought to be or to do. 

I have undertaken in Part II certain phases of the dif- 
ficult and interminable task of outlining a plan and method 
of education designed to make the individual socially effi- 
cient. My point of view might properly, I think, be said to 
be that of the naturalist rather than that of the logician or 
philosopher, or even the moralist or idealist. The problem 
before me constantly has been, — what can we do in social 
training, considering the nature of the individual and his 
social needs, rather than what ouglit we to do viewing the 



vi PREFACE 

matter from an ideal standpoint. What I have written is 
founded mainly upon data gained from experiments and 
methods which I have been able to study at first hand, or 
which have been furnished me by persons who have made 
observations for me, or who have given me an account of 
their experiences in the training of their own children. But 
while the purpose of this volume is for the most part to pre- 
sent the conclusions reached by one observer and adventurer 
in the training of children, still I have at most points com- 
pared the principles herein set forth with those advocated 
by the representative students of child-life and education 
from Plato down to our own times. In some cases I have 
called attention to the opinions of these writers without 
foot-note citations of book and page of their works, think- 
ing it not necessary or desirable so to do. I have hoped 
that this volume might prove more or less tolerable to par- 
ents and teachers, as well as to students of mental develop- 
ment ; and with this in mind I have avoided methods of 
treatment which would give it the appearance of being un- 
duly technical or " learned." However, at the close of the 
book I have suggested a list of references for reading, which 
includes, I think, those books and articles which best pre- 
sent typical views since Plato's day of the social nature of 
the individual, and the most effective method of training 
him for social adjustment. 

In its original form the volume contained a number of 
chapters treating of the relation between the social develop- 
ment of the individual and the evolution of social attitudes 
and institutions in the race. But these portions have finally 
been entirely eliminated ; partly because with their inclusion 
the volume seemed to be too bulky, but mainly because upon 
reflection it has seemed best to omit from these pages all 
purely speculative and theoretical discussion. The author 
is very much interested in the general problem of recapitu- 
lation in human development, but he is bound to confess that 
at present it seems impossible to discuss the question in any 



PREFACE vii 

definite and positive manner, on account of the limitations 
of our knowledge in this field. It has seemed advisable, 
therefore, to confine the treatment to principles, the data 
for which could be observed at first hand and investigated 
experimentally. 

With a view to clarifying the discussion throughout, and 
to economizing the time and energy of the general reader 
as well as the student, a marginal analysis and a detailed 
analytical index of the entire material have been made. 
Also the more important principles developed in the text 
have been summarized at the end of each chapter. 

Special attention is called to the Exercises and Problems 
given in the last two chapters. These relate to the various ^ 
subjects considered in the book ; and they are designed to 
stimulate the student to test the principles developed, and 
to extend their application in every direction. They are 
intended further to suggest many phases of social develop- 
ment and education which have hardly been even touched 
upon in this volume. The lists given on each chapter have 
been chosen from a large number which have arisen in dis- 
cussing the different topics with organizations of parents 
and teachers, and classes of university students. Only those 
exercises and problems have been selected which upon trial 
have proven to incite observation and effective reflection on 
the part of students, as well as those interested in the prac- 
tical care and culture of childhood and youth. The author >^' 
has found them to be of considerable service in arousing the 
interest of the reader, and in making real and vital the con- 
clusions reached in the text. 

M. V. O'Shea. 
University of Wisconsin, 
Madison, Wisconsin. 



CONTENTS 



PART I 

The Genesis and Developmental Course of 
Typical Social Attitudes 

I. Sociability „ 3 

Instinctive manifestations. The passion for personal inter- 
course. The feeling of dependence as one source of sociable 
expression. The appearance of the highest form of sociable 
feeling. Favorites and aliens among children. The influence 
upon the child of adult social stratification. Sociability on the 
basis of dress distinction. On the basis of intellectual attain- 
ments. The influence of adolescent development upon socia- 
bility. Social stratification on the basis of economic status. 
Charitable tendencies in sociability. R^sumd. 

II. Communication . 29 

The need of communication. The beginnings of restraint in 
the communizing activity. Developmental changes in the 
character of the communications. The tendencies at adoles- 
cence. The reticent type. Social value of the communizing 
activity. Influence of the individual in establishing com- 
munity sentiment. The influence of the community on the 
individual's expressions. Social opposition. Consciousness is 
a stage ; who are the players ? The development of respon- 
siveness to community sentiment. Rdsumd. 

III. Duty 55 

Absence of the sentiment of obligation in infancy. Origin of 
the idea of persons as distinguished from things. The genesis 
of the alter sense. Essential experiences in acquiring the alter 
sense. Development and enrichment of the conception of the 
alter. Interpretation of the alter^s expressions. Popular no- 
tions respecting the relation of the self and the alter. Are 
the interests of the ego and the alter identical ? Neutral 
attitudes in childhood. Genesis of the sense of duty. The 
role of religion in the development of conscience. The real- 
istic character of the child's religious conceptions. Edsumd. 



X CONTENTS 

IV. Justice 86 

Basal experience in the development of the sentiment of 
justice. Equality of rights and responsibilities limited to 
members of a class. The role of conflict in the child's early 
social adjustment. The method of the first lessons in justice. 
Appearance of the sense of property rights. Development 
of appreciation of the right of possession. Developmental 
changes in respect to principles of ownership. The role of 
positive instruction in developing the sentiment of justice. 
Purposeful educative training by the group. Instinctive ele- 
ments in the sentiment of justice. The reflex character of the 
sentiment of justice in the beginning. Development of an ap- 
preciation of extenuating circumstances. Development of an 
appreciation of motive in the alter's actions. Appearance of 
the sense of responsibility. The effect of adolescent develop- 
ment upon the feeling of responsibility. R^sumd. 

V. Respect . 115 

Characteristics of respect as a social phenomenon. Respect is 
a restrained, appreciative attitude. Respect for institutions 
and superiors. Respect vs. observance of conventional pro- 
prieties. Respect vs. admiration. The meaning of "self-re- 
spect." Origin of the attitude of self-respect. Appearance of 
the attitudes of shame, humiliation, remorse, self-esteem, etc. 
The child's reaction to reproof. The child's indifference to 
his " reputation." The attitude of respect is taken in view 
primarily of the motives of action. The influence of adoles- 
cent development upon the attitude of self-respect. The ef- 
fect upon the individual of loss of self-respect. The effect 
upon the attitude of self-respect of the development of sex 
appreciation. Rdsumd. 

VI. Docility 135 

The child as a learner. His attitude toward most of the cul- 
ture and conventions of society. Convention as a load on feel- 
ing, inoperative in childhood. The change at adolescence. 
The process of assimilating social conventions. The child's 
reactions upon conventions forced on him. The learner turned 
teacher. Is the child docile toward the wise ? The child's 
attitude is predominantly dynamic rather than assimilative. 
Indocility with respect to ethical instruction. The inevitable 
conflict between the child and the adult. Docility in the 
school. Docility as affected by broadening experience. Im- 
itation as a method of learning. The dramatic tendency. 
Rdsumd, 



CONTENTS xi 

VII. Resentment 157 

The infant's attitude is a non-resistant one. The earliest ex- 
pression of anger. The typical year-old child is angry much 
of the time. The development of resentment as a personal 
emotion. Methods of expressing rage. Situations which stimu- 
late the attitude of anger. The function of anger in social 
relations. Conditions which favor the development of irri- 
tability among the members of a group. Appearanceof the 
attitude of hatred. Appearance of the attitude of indigna- 
tion. Appearance of the attitude of jealousy. Situations which 
incite the attitude of jealousy. Conditions favoring the de- 
velopment of jealousy. Schoolroom jealousies. Jealousy dur- 
ing the adolescent period. R^sumd. 

VIII. Aggression 184 

The combative impulse. Methods and bases of retaliation. 
Retaliation on the basis of injury done to one's " reputation." 
Early methods of preserving group stability. Genesis of the 
judicial attitude. Illustrations of the judicial attitude in typ- 
ical self-governing groups. The sanguinary tendencies of 
boys. These tendencies are revealed in verbal as well as in 
fistic encounters. Girls are less sanguinary. The attitudes of 
the sexes toward each other. The influence of adolescent de- 
velopment upon these attitudes. Teasing. Teasing by inciting 
fear. By "calling names." By arousing shame. Teasing 
among primitive children. R^sum^. 

IX. Social Types 209 

The principle of social types. Individual variability recog- 
nized in popular philosophy. Are there types in childhood 
and youth ? The adaptable type. The " weak " type. The 
tactful type. The unadaptable type. The impertinent and 
impudent types. The attitude of scorn. The frank, " open " 
type. The deceitful type. The communicative type. The self- 
conscious type. The dramatic type. The hectoring type. The 
meek type. Developmental transformation in types. R^sumd 



PART II 
Social Education 

^. From a National Standpoint 229 

Our American problem viewed in the light of the experience 
of older civilizations. The point of view. The crucial period 



xii CONTENTS 

in the life of a nation. The chief problem in education. De- 
velopment of aesthetic interests. Development of intellectual 
interests. Tendencies in our own country. Development of 
sound altruistic interests. Development of industrial inter- 
ests. Development of individual initiative and efficiency. 
Conformity to established law. Rdsumd. 

XI. Educative Social Experience 248 

Education for social efficiency. Educative social experience 
the first requisite. The social training of the "only child." 
Hard knocks are essential to effective learning. Present-day 
tendencies. The situation in the public schools. The typical 
school is modeled on the static plan. The principle partially 
realized in the kindergarten. The question of moral instruc- 
tion. The method of teaching moral principles. The pupil 
must be led to see the social necessity for every moral atti- 
tude urged upon him. Moral instruction during adolescence. 
R^sumd. 

XII. The Critical Period ; ... 274 

The infant's reactions upon his social environment. The child 
as an expert in coercing his care-takers. Misinterpretation of 
childish expression. How the child is encouraged in his coer- 
cive tendencies. Individual differences in the non-conforming 
disposition. The child's winsomeness often a disadvantage. 
' Conformity essential to individual as well as social well- 
being. New times bring new problems in social training. Dis- 
persed authority renders good social training impossible. The 
home and the school. True sympathy for childhood. jLeader- 
ship is what is needed in home and school. Rdsumd. 

XIII. Cooperation in Group Education 295 

Children's self-discipline in the group. The adult as an out- 
sider. The teacher as a member of the group. Conflict be- 
tween fathers and sons. The first forms of group activity in 
childhood. The development of group consciousness. How 
the sense of group unity is acquired. Opportunity for play 
the chief requirement. A lesson from European civilization. 
The chief count against the city. The need of playgrounds. 

A sound mind in a sound body. Playgrounds lessen crime. 
The testimony of playground experts. The playground and 
school discipline. Rivalry in group activity. The value of 
competitive activity in the schoolroom and on the play- 
ground. The survival of the fittest in competitive activity. 
R^sum^. 



CONTENTS xiii 

XIV. Problems of Training 321 

A typical instance of conflict iu the training of children. 
Differing points of view. Personal traits that incite resist- 
ance. The futility of much verbal correction. How com- 
mands are made effective. Commands that do not reach the 
child's focus of attention. How indifference to commands is 
developed in children. Qualities essential in a successful 
trainer. Mother love. Hamlet as a type of trainer. Relation 
between the child and his trainer. Can leadership and com- 
panionship be combined in the same individual ? A danger 
in American life. The evil of early sophistication. Concern- 
ing dancing. Folk dances in the schools. Rdsum^. 

XV. Methods of Correction 346 

The rod as a means of correction. The tendency in our own 
country. The tendency in older countries. The results of ex- 
periments in European countries. Is the pendulum swinging 
too far in our country ? Methods must be varied to meet in- 
dividual peculiarities. Control by "natural" consequences. 
Some defects iu the plan. The responses to the child's ad- 
vances of the representatives of law and order are properly 
" natural consequences." R^sumd. 

XVI. Suggestion 370 

The general character of suggestion. The natural history of 
an act of suggestion. The principle of suggestion stated. The 
influence for good or ill of the personality of the trainer. 
The suggestion of evil. The view of modern psychology. The 
treatment of timidity as a typical undesirable attitude. Ne- 
gation as a method of training. Positive suggestion as a 
method of training. Present-day tendencies. Special prob- 
lems of village life. Home influence in the village. Boy life 
in the villages of a Western state. The opportunity of the 
school in the village. Practical methods of improvement. 
Rdsum^. 

XVII. Imitation 396 

Group homogeneity. Familiar illustrations of imitative ac- 
tivity. Conditions governing the child's imitations. Persona- 
tion in childhood. Plato on the moral effects of dramatiza- 
tion. The value of personating activity. Dramatizing work 
in the school. Theatrical " properties " are not essential. 
Personation is a sort of vicarious adjustment. Dominant per- 
sonalities in any community. Are masculine or feminine per- 
sonalities dominant with the young ? Imitation of abnormal 



xiv CONTENTS 

traits. The quarantine of nervous and moral disorders. The 
situation in our country. Shallow sentimentalism in dealing 
with sub-normal children in the schools. Does a copy pre- 
sented to the young for imitation sometimes arouse antithetic 
action ? Resume. 

References for Reading 424 

Exercises and Problems, Part I 434 

Exercises and Problems, Part H 486 

Index 551 



PART I 

THE GENESIS AND DEVELOPMENTAL COURSE OP 
TYPICAL SOCIAL ATTITUDES 



CHAPTER I 

SOCIABILITY 

Students of infancy Lave observed that during the first 
two months of life the chUd responds in only a vague, gen- 
eral, indefinite way to most of what exists and instinctive 
happens about him. He seems at this period maniiestations 
hardly to have become awakened from the unconsciousness 
of the pre-natal epoch, when there was no stimulating en- 
vironment impinging upon him and exciting him to adjust- 
ment of some sort. For several weeks in the beginning of 
his career, he shows little if any appreciation of the mean- 
ing and values of things surrounding him, except such as 
are brought into direct contact with his skin or his tongue. 
The expression of his features during this early period 
indicates that he does not discriminate objects on the basis 
of their power for good or ill in his life ; he manifests no 
inclination to possess himself of certain ones, and to rid 
himself of others. The world plays on him incessantly, but 
he does not react upon it except in a very few instinctive 
ways. The infant is in reality static with reference to much 
that in due course will incite him to constant activity, in 
the effort to use it in some way to advance his interests. 

It will, perhaps, seem to the reader simple enough that 
the child should not be dynamic in situations with which 
he has not had vital experience ; for why should he be 
active when he has not learned that his activity will yield 
pleasure of some kind, or save him from discomfort ? But it 
is worth while to make the point stand out clearly, that there 
is a period in the life of the individual when the environing 
world is practically undifferentiated in respect to values. 
Now, if we could describe in detail the course of the child 
in evaluating his environments, social and physical ; and if 



4 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

we could discover his method of determining values, noting 
the grounds upon which he estimates them, and the atti- 
tudes he assumes toward objects when their worth is re- 
vealed, we should have a complete account of his mental 
development. Our present task is, however, much simpler 
than this ; it is merely to attempt to state the more im- 
portant of the child's processes and attitudes in his efforts 
to evaluate his social environments, and to become most 
effectively adjusted thereto. 

It is probable that the infant's earliest appreciation of 
values concerns persons as contrasted with inanimate ob- 
jects. One who observes a three-months-old child smiling in 
response to the greetings of its caretaker can hardly fail to 
conclude that it is pleased, in its naive and largely instinct- 
ive way, with personal association. The mother is over- 
joyed when she detects the first smile, ^ faint and fleeting 
though it may be, for she feels that this is a token of her 
child's recognition of people as distinct from things, and 
his pleasure in social relations. As the poet and idealist see 
it, — " With the first dawning smile upon the infant's face, 
the instinct of love awakes." ^ 

By the beginning of the third month, the babe seems to 
realize, in a very general and obscure manner, of course, 
that the mother is an object with which it may hold com- 
munion, which is not the case with the nursing bottle or 

1 " To laugh, if but for an instant only, has never been granted to man 
before the fortieth day from his birth, and then it is looked upon as a mira- 
cle of precocity." — Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book vii, chap, i, Hol- 
land's translation. 

An observer reports the following, in illustration of the point in question : 
" A little girl three months old watches her father whenever he comes 
•within her range of vision. If he speaks to her or pays any attention to her 
she smiles and manifests her pleasure by various contortions and wiggles. 
Her father has always played with her every day, so she ought to know him 
■well, but until he speaks she does not smile. In fact, she has a wondering, 
curious look in her eyes, which has sometimes made us question if she were 
trying to locate him in her experience, and was unable to accomplish it 
until his voice or action helped her to do so." 

2 Harrison, The Study of Child-Nature from the Kindergarten Standpoint, 
p. 75. 



INSTINCTIVE SOCIABILITY 5 

the rattle ; these latter are to be used merely, not com- 
muned with. The child of four months, making efforts at 
" cooing " in response to its mother's salutations, taken to- 
gether with its accompanying demonstrations of a really 
remarkable character, such as holding and forcibly expell- 
ing the breath, the heightened activity of all the bodily 
members, the significant expressiveness of the features, — 
these suggest strongly its awareness of personal presence^ 
which cannot be detected when it is reacting upon other 
situations. Thus early does the child, in just a dim, glim- 
mering way it must be, distinguish between things to be 
tested, experimented with, put to some service, and persons 
to be enjoyed, to be depended upon for protection, to be 
appealed to in moments of distress. To a certain extent, 
doubtless, persons are differentiated from objects by the 
child as his days increase, because they can be used to so 
much greater advantage : they can aid him in attaining 
goods which he lacks strength and skill to secure ; they can 
serve as colleagues or competitors in his games ; they can 
guard him against harm and the like, of which much will 
be said presently. But when one sees an infant reciprocat- 
ing the loving expressions of his mother, and later pleading 
with her to remain near by merely that he may enjoy her 
presence, it seems beyond question that he has brought with 
him the rudiments of genuine sociable feeling,^ which 
causes him to ascribe a special value to persons, and to de- 
sire to have friendly intercourse with them. Whether this 
feeling remains pure and unadulterated, or becomes organ- 
ized with other feelings of an egotistic character, is not in 
question ; we will turn to this later. Nor does it matter in 

^ Cooley {Human Nature and the Social Order, p. 47) holds that the early 
manifestations of sociability indicate less fellow-feeling than the adult im- 
agines. They are, according to this author, largely expressions of a pleasure 
which persons excite, chiefly because they oifer such a variety of stimuli to 
sight, hearing, and touch. He says (p. 50), " I take it that the child has by 
heredity a generous capacity and need for social feeling. ... It is not so 
much any particular personal emotion or sentiment as the undifferentiated 
material of many : perhaps sociability is as good a -word for it as any." 



6 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

this connection to say that the young child will appraise his 

dog and his kitten in the same way as he does his father 

and mother and nurse ; to him they probably belong for a 

time to this class of objects which may be communed with, 

and which we have called persons. In due course, we shall 

see through what experiences they become differentiated so 

that they cannot be communed with in the same way as 

can persons, or to the same extent, or with reference to 

the same interests. 

It is not too much to say that there is a kind of hunger 

for personal intercourse which the child experiences before 

he has completed even six months among us. As early as 

the fifth month, the mere proximity of mother or 
Passion -n c • 1 • 1 1 • 

for personal father Will otten give him peace, when otherwise 

tercouise j^^ ^^^^ ^^ restless, discontented, unhappy. Sully,* 
touching upon this point, says that " children are instinct- 
ively attachable and sociable in so far as they show in the 
first weeks that they get used to and dependent on the 
human presence, and are miserable when this is taken from 
them. ... In this instinct of companionship there is in- 
volved a vague inarticulate sympathy. Just as the attached 
dog may be said to have in a dim fashion a feeling of one- 
ness with its master, so the child." Some children from the 
sixth month on cannot endure to be "left to themselves" 
at all during their waking hours. It is not merely fanciful 
to say that the child brings with him a kind of generali- 
zation of long ages of ancestral experience, to the effect 
that it is well for a person to be with people because of the 
advantages to be derived from social unity and cooperation. 
Kirkpatrick,^ speaking from the evolutionary standpoint, 
declares that " desire for companionship is the natural in- 
heritance of an ancestry that must have sought it in order 
to survive. . . . Most children manifest a desire for the 
presence of adults before they can walk." It is maintained 

1 Studies of Childhood, pp. 242, 243. 

2 Fundamentals of Child-Study, p. 119. 



THE FEELING OF DEPENDENCE 7 

by evolutionists generally that the passion for social inter- 
course, and even the institution of society itself, had their 
origin in service of a physical sort which men could render 
to one another. 

But however this may be, service of the sort indicated is 
not the only nor the chief source of pleasure which the 
young child derives from personal relations. It is true that 
at the outset the parents, and most if not all the other per- 
sons about the child, minister to his physical needs in some 
way ; but it is significant that his display of pure sociability 
does not occur principally when his physical wants are being 
attended to, but rather when the mother's beaming face is 
bendiug over his, and she is calling to him in gentle love- 
tones. After the first year, the child will show marked 
pleasure in responding to the father's salutations, even 
though the latter has not been of service to him physically. 
If we may infer anything respecting a child's conscious 
processes from his intonations, featural expressions, and the 
like, we are entitled to hold that he is pleasurably affected 
in the presence of his mother, say, because in his dawning 
consciousness he feels her to be a friend, in all that this 
implies of service and good-will and protection and confi- 
dence, — a feeling which has slowly developed through long 
periods of social experience. Possibly the evolution in phylo- 
genesis of the attitude denoted by " friend " was dependent 
at every step upon cooperation and protection in the struggle 
for existence ; but the child seems to come into possession 
of the attitude without having first to experience consciously 
the factors out of which it has developed. 

It is not intended here to imply that the child's eagerness 
to be in the presence of persons, and to enter 
into active relations with them, is due wholly of depend- 
to the feeling of pure sociability, into which no source^of^' 

" selfish " factor enters. As he develops and the 5°°'^^ °^' 

. . , piesslon 

range of his contact with the world increases, he 

often, no doubt, wishes to be with people so that he can 



8 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

make use of them to accomplisli feats of skill and daring 
which unaided he cannot himself achieve. It is probable 
that after the second year, at any rate, the feeling of socia- 
bility is always bound up with other feelings arising out of 
the child's tendency to experiment with his personal en- 
vironment, in the effort to learn people, and to master and 
use them in the realization of his needs. In "mastering 
his environments " the individual must, of course, become 
skiUful in those activities which will be required of him for 
later adjustments; and since a large proportion of these 
activities are directly social in intent and outcome, it is 
imperative that he should have associates to practice upon. 
So that his eagerness to be with companions in his play is 
based in part, though he is not aware of it, upon this great 
need in learning to handle himself effectively in social situ- 
ations. From the third year on, the child strives unceas- 
ingly to perform his feats, and thus to display all his powers 
and commendable qualities, in the presence of people, and 
in cooperation with them. In any undertaking he will always 
do his best according to prevailing ideals, as he appreciates 
them, if there are spectators at hand, or if he has a competi- 
tor or an antagonist ; and what at first glance may appear 
to be sociability, without admixture of anything else, may 
often be an outgrowth to some extent of these other in- 
terests. 

The principle is that when the child begins to move 
about in the world, thus establishing needs beyond his own 
ability to gratify^ he manifests strong sociable attachment, 
partly, doubtless, so that he may have the aid of competent 
persons to accomplish his desires. Even when he pleads to 
be allowed to accompany his father and mother in their 
trips from home, he has it in the depths of his mind to 
make use of them to protect him, and to show him sights 
which otherwise he could not see.* But these experiences 

1 Cooley (op. cit. p. 48) maintains that " the delight in companionship so 
evident in children may be ascribed partly to specific social emotion or sen- 



THE FEELING OF DEPENDENCE 9 

seem often to enrich sociable expression. When the child 
leaves his home with his parents, he usually becomes more 
expressive of social feeling than when he is in his nursery. 
He " takes hold of hands," his voice becomes soft and ap- 
pealing, he grows confidential in his communications, and 
he assumes a deferential attitude toward his elders, who 
are now in a very real way felt to be his guides and his 
protectors. He shows this same tendency, in effect, when 
he goes into strange regions with his brother or sister. 
Within the walls of his own house, where nothing is unfa- 
miliar to him, and he has no sense of danger, he may be 
quarrelsome and spiteful, refusing to cooperate with any 
one or to share his possessions ; but on the street he is 
likely to have a quite different attitude, being docile, gen- 
tle, and dependent. This transformation is less marked 
with older children, though it may usually be observed 
until the advent of youth at any rate. Later we shall see 
that the child is on occasion combative, aggressive, resent- 
ful, as well as sociable, in a positive sense ; and that his anti- 
social impulses tend to be expressed when he is competing 
with others under such conditions that he does not feel the 
need of keeping their good-will and securing their protec- 
tion, as in the average home where he is shielded from the 
aggression of strange people. 

Unquestionably the child's inherited suspicion of danger 
in an unfamiliar environment plays a leading role in his 
manifestations of sociability. It holds in leash the aggressive 
impulses, and calls to the front those that have for their 

timent, and partly to a need of stimulating sug-gestions to enable them to 
gratify their instinct for various sorts of mental and physical activity. The 
"nfluence of the latter appears in their marked preference for active per- 
sons, for grown-up people who will play with them — provided they do so 
with tact — and especially for other children." 

Ag'ain, on p. 122, he says, "A healthy mind, at least, does not spend much 
energy on things that do not in some way contribute to its development ; 
ideas and persons that lie wholly aside from the direction of its growth, or 
from which it has absorbed all they have to give, necessarily lack interest 
for it, and so fail to awaken sympathy." 



• 10 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

object to win the friendship and so the assistance of others. 
As he develops and has experience in ever-enlarging regions 
of his environment, the sense of danger will gradually be- 
come dissipated, and other feelings will take its place ; but 
these will exert a somewhat similar influence upon his social 
attitudes. As his experiences increase and his sphere of ad- 
justment expands, he will discover that his prosperity in 
every respect depends upon the good-will of his fellows, and 
he will therefore be stimulated all the more strongly to 
secure this good-will. It is probable that people who do not 
feel any dependence upon their associates (if there really 
are such) are in fact less sociable than those who feel such 
a relation. The very rich, for instance, are as a rule, though 
there are many exceptions, much less social in their outward 
expressions than those who earn their daily bread, and who 
on that account are constantly aware of their dependence 
upon others. This gives rise to a very complex emotional 
attitude which, in its expression, appears to be genuine 
\ sociability. V 

The individual does not manifest the highest form of 
sociable feeling until the adolescent reformation is well 
under way. At about the age of fifteen with girls, 
anoe of the and a year or two later with boys, there appears 
highest ^^ interest in people for their own sake, because 

sociable of their worth as personalities with feelings like 
feeling, . ... 

their own. This is in some part at least often a 

religious attitude ; and the more active and demonstrative 

the general religious feelings, the more pronounced are the 

sociable tendencies. Church-going people are probably more 

expressive, at any rate, of their sociable feeling than are 

those who are wholly uninfluenced by any of the activities 

centring in the church. Of course, it is understood that 

reference is here made to the Christian religion primarily, 

which puts emphasis upon the relation of man to man, 

teaching that one should love his neighbor as himself. 

As the child grows into boyhood or girlhood, the passion 



ATTITUDES TOWARD PLAYMATES 11 

for mere personal presence declines, at least in most cases, 
and in its general manifestations ; though, as we Favorites 
shall see presently, this may be due to the increas- ^"^^g*^^ 
ing powers of imagery, which makes it possible for cMidren 
the child to enjoy personal presence, even though persons 
are not present in the flesh. The five-year-old seeks associa- 
tion with those, mainly, who can help him to carry forward 
his enterprises, whatever they may be, or in general to make 
life interesting to him. Above all things else, he seeks the 
society of those who can play with him ; and this means 
much, which will be developed at length in another place. 
Children from three on through the adolescent period gen- 
erally choose as companions those of about their own ex- 
perience and tendencies. They are more sociable with such 
companions than with most adults, or with others of their 
own age who cannot play as they do. Of course if an adult 
can become as a child and thus adapt himself to the child's 
spontaneity, he will be chosen above all other companions, 
because he can be of so much greater service to the child. 

As Cooley^ puts it, " Persons, especially those that share 
his (the child's) interests, maintain and increase their as- 
cendency, and other children, preferably a little older and 
of more varied resources than himself, are particularly wel- 
come. Among grown-ups he admires most those who do 
something that he can understand, whom he can appreciate 
as actors and producers — such as the carpenter, the gar- 
dener, the maid in the kitchen. R. invented the happy word 
' thinger ' to describe this sort of people, and while per- 
forming similar feats would proudly proclaim himself a 
' thinger.' " 

One can detect almost instantly the sociable attitude in 
a boy or girl of nine, say, when brought into the presence 
of a playmate who is genuine and capable, which implies 
the possession of courage, versatility, ingenuity, and other 
qualities ; while they are more reserved and iU at ease when 

1 Op. cit. p. 289. 



12 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

in contact with one who may be " good " but who cannot 
*' do things." Mere static goodness is not rated high among 
children of any age. Autobiographical sketches, such as 
Warner's Being a Boy, White's The Court of Boyville, 
Burnett's The One I Knew Best of All, and sympathetic 
glimpses of child-life, such as one finds in Graham's The 
Golden Age, Nesbit's The Would-be- Goods and The Plea- 
sure Seekers, Ruth McEnery Stuart's Sonny, and many 
others, are all full of illustrations of the principle in ques- 
tion. S. and V. are what might be called typical boys of 
seven and nine respectively. They have had many boy ac- 
quaintances and numerous companions ; but gradually they 
are eliminating all but a few who are especially ready and 
fertile in all sorts of play and adventure. Some of the boys 
they " like " are inclined to be rough in speech and act, but 
they are chosen above " better " boys because they know 
how to carry through many games, and perform all manner 
of difficult tricks. Ask S. or V. why he likes these rough 
boys, and why he does not cultivate the gentler ones, and it 
will at once become apparent that the source of interest is 
in the leadership of the more favored boys. 

In the same way, H. at eleven chooses her companions 
mainly for their skill and perseverance in play. Girls who 
are timid and self-conscious, or who do not " know what to 
do," or who tire quickly, or who easily take offense and 
refuse to play, or who are quarrelsome and break up the 
group, — all such types are gradually left out of account. ^ 
Several of such girls have already passed entirely out of the 
circle of H.'s acquaintanceship, and she apparently never 

^ Sometimes a child who cannot himself play effectively, or suggest new 
activities to the group, will nevertheless be a favorite because of some of his 
qualities which the group can use to advantage. The following case illus- 
trates the principle : — 

Five little girls, all about ten or eleven years of age, formed " A Doll 
Club." Four were daughters of well-to-do professional parents ; their mothers 
were club women. These four came from families socially superior to the 
family of the fifth girl. The fifth girl was really not very bright, nor was 
she well dressed or well cared for, but, while she could not suggest new games, 



ATTITUDES TOWARD PLAYMATES 13 

thinks of them. She is not much affected by children who 
are commonly described as being " refined " or " religious," 
or even "nice " or " quiet " or " loving." 

There is a different type of child from any of those re- 
ferred to who does not inspire sociable expression in his 
associates. This is the boastful or dominantly egotistic type, 
the one who makes those around him feel that he regards 
himself as superior to them for one reason or another, on 
account of his personal appearance, it may be, or the wealth 
of his family, or his excellence in studies, or what not. Ac- 
cording to my observations, this trait is not manifested in 
the early years, not before the period of adolescence ; but it 
does frequently show itself after the twelfth or thirteenth 
year. In later adolescence, it is often seen in an accentuated 
form. Freshmen in college sometimes make themselves quite 
offensive to their fellows because of their " putting on airs." 
It is of special significance that the group always attempts 
to " take the starch out of " one of their number who by 
word or manner conveys the impression that he esteems 
himseK as above his associates, which should lead him to 
hold himself aloof from them, or patronize them in any way. 

Sociability can manifest itself only among those who are 
on an equality, in most respects, at any rate. There must 
be community of ability, merit, rank, so to speak, as well as 
community of interest, in order that persons should maintain 
sociable relations with one another ; and as children develop 
group unity and solidarity, they tend to become dynamic in 
reducing to the general level or rusticating those who make 
a show of their feeling of preeminence. In the public schools, 
boys, and to a less degree girls, will harass one of their 
number who "feels his clothes," or who for any reason. at- 
tempts to establish himself on a plane above that occupied 

she was gentle and was a good follower. Some rich relative had given her a 
beautiful doll, which, together with her gentleness, gained her an admission 
into a socially superior class. The four rich girls refused to receive other 
poor girls whose dolls were shabby, both because they were poor and their 
dolls were poor. (Reported by A. M. J.) 



14 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

by the group. Of course, if a boy is superior in combative 
ability his associates are likely, for reasons of self-preserva- 
tion, to acknowledge his superiority if he insists upon it ; but 
if he goes to the extent of playing the bully, the group will 
sooner or later bring him to heel. If he be a leader in sports 
and games, he will, of course, be encouraged and followed 
without protest from any one ; but under such circumstances 
his associates do not feel that he is " proud " or " haughty " 
or " conceited," as they are certain to feel respecting the 
boy who is vain over mere static possessions, as wealth or 
rank, and the like. 

There is a profound significance in the tendency of chil- 
dren to exalt dynamic accomplishments and subordinate 
everything of a static character. It is as though the child 
wished to utilize every moment in learning how to live 
the simple, concrete, elemental life, not only in play but 
in other ways ; and so he is interested in those persons 
only who can be of assistance to him by setting him a 
copy to imitate, or furnishing him material to practice 
on. Toward such persons, be they young or old, he will 
manifest sociability; but toward others he will be indif- 
ferent, or even hostile. The parent and the governess 
who can " do things " will be admired by children and their 
good-will cultivated ; but others will be neglected or opposed. 
It is worthy of remark that what are often regarded as the 
highest social and moral qualities do not appeal to the indi- 
vidual strongly, at least until the adolescent period is near- 
ing completion. They are apparently not dynamic enough 
for him, not elementary and fundamental enough. Before 
the adolescent epoch, children rarely, if ever, become enthu- 
siastic over a companion or an adult who is quiet and re- 
served, even one who speaks to the child and acts toward 
him in a tender and affectionate manner. Boys at any rate 
spontaneously choose those who are not over-careful of the 
results of their actions, if only they bring things to pass 
within the sphere of understanding and interest of the child. 



CASTE STRATIFICATION 15 

Children will endure without a word of complaint, and 
really with apparent enjoyment, quite harsh, rude handling 
from an older playmate or a parent, if it is administered in 
the spirit of play. 

Until he has reached the adolescent age, the child 
seems to pay little heed to caste stratifications in any com- 
munity.^ The son of the millionaire will, if he Thoiniin- 
gets the chance, play freely, without any feeling the cMid"of 

of condescension, with the son of the day laborer ; adult social 

str&t iiic & " 
and this not infrequently happens in consequence tion 

of the democratic character of our public school system. 
The writer has been studying carefully, and for quite a long 
period, the social groupings of the children in the public 
schools of a Western city, where the conditions are un- 
usually favorable for determining when the young begin to 
feel and to be governed by the social distinctions of the 
adults in the community. The schools are so situated that 
each draws children from most of the typical social groups, 
— from the homes of the rich, the poor, the idle, the indus- 
trious, the intelligent, and the illiterate ; from the homes of 
governors, law-makers, and judges, as well as from those in 
which no one dwells who has ever held public office. So far 
as one can tell, the pupils in the elementary schools, with 
the possible exception of the seventh and eighth grades, are 
quite unconscious of the social status of their respective 
families, though in some cases the parents make a constant 
effort to impress this upon their children. On the play- 
ground, as well as in the classroom, the young are con- 

^ Even when parents are hostile to one another, and endeavor to keep 
their children apart, the latter will often come together in spite of oppo- 
sition. The following instance given hy a correspondent illustrates the prin- 
ciple : " G. and B. lived across the street from each other. Their fathers 
■were rival doctors, and hated each other to the extreme limit. Every action 
and word manifested it. The mothers never spoke to one another. Conver- 
sation between the parents of one family regarding the other was not at all 
guarded, so both girls must have known of the animosity ; yet they were 
always together, and one never cared to go to school or to a party without 
the other. B.'s mother made objection to the friendship, but it did no good. 
The mothers often laughed with their friends about it." 



16 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

cerned with individual members of groups on the basis 
alone of their personal qualities, and not their social stand- 
ing or connections. The children who are competent in the 
activities of the playground, and so who can lead, are al- 
ways the favorites, for the time being at any rate, while the 
incompetent or uninteresting or ugly are as a rule left to 
themselves. It is true that a number of more or less exclu- 
sive groups have been formed, but not on the basis of the 
social status of the families represented, though it some- 
times appears to be so, since children who are brought 
together by their parents outside of school, as in parties or 
dancing classes, tend to group together on the playground 
simply because they are acquainted with each other. If one 
will study these groups, he will see that they are generally 
not conscious of differences in social status ; they cling 
together on the basis solely of familiarity. 

Parents are, of course, responsible for determining to some 
extent the associates of their children outside of school, and 
they attempt to preserve the alignment of the social strata ; 
so that in effect the groupings on a general playground are 
often along social lines viewed from without, but not lines 
drawn or even appreciated by the young themselves. For 
the reason indicated, there is a tendency among the children 
who live in a given section of a community, and who see 
much of one another out of school, to " keep company " in 
the school. But after all, this is really important only in 
respect to the groupings of girls, for boys usually ignore 
sectional limitations in their choice of companions. They do 
not even respect color limitations, at least in the city to 
which allusion has been made, though it is different, as the 
writer has observed, in the southern part of our country. 

Dress plays no part in the groupings among the boys ; 
Sociability and its role among the girls, up to the sixth or 
o^dress^^^^ seventh grade, is of slight consequence, except 
distinctions in rare instances where parents insist upon the 
importance of clothes in determining the companionship 



EXCELLENCE IN STUDIES 17 

of their children. As one listens to the spontaneous conversa- 
tion of girls under eleven years of age, he does not hear refer- 
ence made often to the dress of any playmate or schoolmate. 
Associates or acquaintances are not praised or criticised on 
account of their clothes. Normally the mind of the girl of 
this age is full of dynamic things, and she talks generally 
of what a companion or schoolmate can do, whether she is 
good at girl's games, whether she has skill in doll play, 
whether she can draw and paint well, and so on. In short, 
contrary to much popular philosophy, girls before adoles- 
ence, are not clothes-minded to any impressive extent. 

One hears it frequently said that children naturally 
choose as companions those who are " bright " and " intel- 
ligent." As commonly interpreted, to be " bright " On the 
means that the child is a leader in the school, inteuectual 
We have noted above that a person who is merely attainments 
static is never a social favorite, no matter how " good " he 
may be ; and the principle applies to his intellectual abili- 
ties. If he can see through a game quickly ; or if he knows 
the habits of animals, and how to ensnare them; or if 
he understands machinery and can make things " go," he 
will be acceptable. But mere excellence in studies is not 
regarded by children as of worth for sociability ; they are 
not more inclined to choose the boy at the top of the class 
than the one at the foot. Indeed, the latter is often a 
social favorite. S. and Y. like, above all their companions, 
two boys who are a grade behind in school. These latter 
boys belong to the motor type, and they can do many things 
which interest their associates, while some of their more 
bookishly brilliant companions seem to them rather unin- 
teresting because they do not know how to " do things." 
Superiority in books is for the normal boy up to adolescence 
no guarantee of real merit ; books are as yet too remote 
from the dynamic life which alone has value for the child. ^ 

^ Any one who has had much experience with boys will recognize the fol- 
lowing type : — 

One of the most popular boys in a high school of seventy students, if not 



18 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

However, girls of nine or ten often admire one of their 
schoolmates who is superior in the work of the school. 
Earlier than the boys, the girls begin to feel the worth of 
intellectual superiority as displayed in schoolroom situations, 
and they tend to regard as a model one who can easily accom- 
plish what they are striving to attain. Of course, it some- 
times operates in just the reverse way; when a number are 
striving for a prize, say, the one who wins it may receive the 
envy and even the hatred of some of those who fail. 

If one were writing of sociability among children in Eng- 
land, say, or France, or Italy, he would need to qualify 
somewhat the statements made above, since in these coun- 
tries the young are led from the cradle on to observe the 
social distinctions so prominent in adult society. One sees 
in Paris or Rome, for instance, the children of the different 
classes educated in separate schools ; and they are constantly 
impressed with the notion that they must not be friendly 
with any but the members of their class. At the public 
schools in England, especially at Eton, the boys who come 
from aristocratic homes are inclined in the beginning to 
shun all but the boys of their respective social groups ; but 
before they are in the school many weeks, the distinctions 
established with such trouble by parents, governesses, and 
tutors are largely if not entirely obliterated. All the evi- 
dence indicates that before adolescence, speaking generally, 
young boys particularly will, if left to themselves, ignore 
the conventional groupings of adult society, and establish 
their own groupings on the basis alone of efficiency in ac- 
tivities of interest in childhood.^ Then they will manifest 

the most popular one, was the son of an exceedingly poor and lazy farmer. 
He was not even up to the average in his scholarship; but his companions 
sought him out because, apparently, he was as they pixt it " a good fellow." 
He was a leading member of the football team, catcher on the baseball team, 
and a thoroughly good story-teller. In short, he did the things that interested 
boys. (Reported by J. N.) 

^ A teacher who has had an excellent opportunity to study the social de- 
velopment of children, writes the author in respect to the age when she has 
observed that groupings on economic or similar bases begin to occur. It is 



ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT 19 

sociability toward those, no matter to what class they be- 
long, who can cooperate with them in the enterprises in 
which they are interested. They will not feel active op- 
position toward others as a rule ; they will simply pass 
them by. 

All students of adolescence have noticed that the changes 
that occur at this time exert a marked influence upon the 
sociable tendencies of individuals, making them Tjifl„g„„go, 
exceedingly active in some directions and weaken- adolescent 
ing them in others. Expressions in response to meat upon 
the opposite sex become so accentuated, and as- 8°°'*'''i^*y 
sume such a peculiar character, that they must be treated 
in a separate place. At the advent of this epoch the indi- 
vidual, especially the girl, begins to take account of the 
stratifications existing in adult society, and she gradually 
comes to choose her associates in accordance therewith. In 
the early years, wealth, with its varied social manifestations, 
is largely ignored by the child, but at adolescence it begins 
to intrude itself upon her attention, and so to determine 
her social attitudes.^ If she does not herself belong to the 

my impression that the eases cited below are very rare, but I give them as 
they have been described to me : — 

" In a town of about twelve hundred inhabitants with which I am familiar, 
a group of girls considering themselves socially superior to the other mem- 
bers of the school was formed as early as the fourth grade. It was rare for 
them to take any one into the group, or to mingle in any way with other 
children. They even showed a marked hostility toward some children who 
were much superior to them in scholarship, but were in very ordinary cir- 
cumstances financially. 

" In a city of some eight or nine thousand, a similar grouping is a trouble- 
some problem in the fourth grade. 

" In a school situated in a college region of , I knew a group of girls 

that existed in the fifth grade (I don't know when it was formed), the chief 
basis for which grouping appeared to be a like scholarliness of the parents, 
— a similarity of tastes. In that school there is organized play during inter- 
missions. These girls apparently considered themselves superior to games in 
the sixth grade, and it was with great reluctance that they were persuaded 
to participate therein. They enjoyed better their own quiet conversation. 
They played games at home, however. 

" In none of these instances did a similar grouping occur among the boys." 
^ A principal of a public school contributes the following testimony : — 
" I have noticed that the boy who early leaves school to go to work soon 



20 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

wealthy class, she commences to feel restrained in the pre- 
sence of those, once her playmates, who possess more of this 
world's goods than she does. Where formerly she made no 
distinctions in persons except on a dynamic basis, she now 
gives the right of way to those who display their wealth, 
though they may not be real leaders. But she defers to 
them ; wealth to her means, in a subtle way, power and 
social precedence. At the same time, the wealthy members 
in the group begin to clique together because of community 
of opportunity and interest, and gradually to terminate 
sociable relations with those who in their younger years 
they may have admired for their skill and leadership. In 
the high school, and even in the seventh and eighth grades, 
fraternities and sororities flourish easily, and the members 
of any particular group grow intense in their sociability 
with one another, but indifferent, or even hostile, to those 
outside the charmed circle. Early friendships are often 
broken, and new connections formed. 

This is true more generally of the girls than of the 
boys, possibly because of the special influence of mothers 
over their daughters ; the social distinctions of adult society, 
conventional and otherwise, are enforced upon girls more 
rigorously than upon boys.^ The latter, more effectually 

drops the companions he had at school and finds his delight in associating 
■with the boys who are working as he does. He assumes an air of importance 
when he meets his old companions. He seems to think that he is somehow 
on a higher plane than the others. He thinks the boy in school is " green " 
and unfortunate in that he is obliged to attend school. He adapts himself 
to the habits and customs of those associated with him. This continues 
until he has entirely drifted away from his old associates. By this time he 
begins to see that his old associates have gained something which he lacks. 
He sees that they are superior to him now, and that he cannot compete with 
them. His mind now tends to become embittered. He is jealous and envi- 
ous. His disposition becomes soured. He clings closer to those of his own 
class. He joins their unions and societies, and is a fit subject for strikes and 
riots. This is, of course, a rather extreme case." 

1 The following is contributed by A. H. ; — 

" In a town of seven hundred people, I had a girl in high school who was 
the richest girl in the school. Her society was eagerly sought by all the 
so-called ' swell dressers ' in school. They were respectful in their attitude 



ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT 21 

than the former, resist the forces from without that urge 
on to a re-alignment among the social groupings. To some 
extent, boys continue even during adolescence to be sociable 
with those who are efficient in games, or in any forms of 
masculinity, even in fighting. In the high school, the all- 
round athletes are usually favorites, and they are shown 
marked attention by their fellows, who will serve them in 
every way and strive to interest and please them. This is 
very noticeable in such boy groups as are found at Eton or 
Rugby or similar schools, where intellectual and athletic 
superiority will keep a boy at the head of a group, though 
his parents may occupy an inferior social position. This 
principle may be observed operating also in military schools 
in our own country, where an opportunity is given the boys 
to express their sociable tendencies ; and in institutions 
like Boy City, the George Junior Republic, and similar 
communities of boys practicing self-government largely. 

It should be impressed here that there are operating on 
children from without certain natural agencies which tend to 
segregate them into groups on the adult social basis when 

toward her, and seemed perfectly happy if they could gain her good-will. 
However, there was another class of so-called ' poor ' girls who drew away 
from her, not because she repelled them, perhaps, but because they felt out 
of place in her presence. They seemed to be much affected by the evident 
contrast between their own circumstances and those of this girl as shown in 
matters of dress, jewelry, the honje, etc. When I first saw this girl in the 
grades she was meek, demure, and humble in her manner, but after two 
years in the high school she had become haughty, overbearing in many 
ways, and tended to avoid girls younger than herself. She and her circle 
were in the habit of making fun of girls who were poorly dressed, but in 
many cases more brilliant intellectually than they. In fact, one of this 
group was the biggest dunce in school, while one of the girls outside of this 
group was the brightest girl in school. 

" From my observation in the high school, I should say that girls group 
on the basis of ability to dress in the latest styles and in finest patterns. 
' Why, Florence wears a siJk waist to school every day,' was a remark I 
once overheard. I heard a girl of twelve years relate to her mother how 
many of the girls wore new hats and how many had hats which were made 
over from old ones. 

" If a girl can say witty things and entertain with jokes and stories she 
may be popular, but this is always a secondary matter, according to my ob- 
servation." 



22 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

they enter the high school. Even in our country, the majority 
of the pupils in the elementary school do not for economic rea- 
sons go beyond the grammar grades. As a rule only those who 
are at least fairly well-to-do can afford to spend in study four 
years following the eighth grade. On the whole, the children 
of the laboring class must become wage-earners by the time 
they are fifteen, and this removes them from those who are 
so situated that they can continue in school. Inevitably, 
then, companionship will be broken up at this point, and 
class distinctions will begin to be manifested. But these dis- 
tinctions are not made by the children, but are inherent in 
our social organization. 

Further, children who are well-to-do are naturally drawn 
together to the exclusion of those in humble circumstances, 
because they are able to participate in activities and indulge 
themselves in ways which are impossible for the indigent ; so 
the latter simply drop out by themselves without any active 
opposition on the part of the others. It is of importance for 
our present purpose to note that often adolescent boys and 
girls preserve their childhood grouping for games and plays, 
but have new groupings for their " party " activities, — their 
sociables, dances, card and sleighing parties, and the like. 
It is probable that boys would be much slower than they are 
in making the new groupings if it were not for the girls, who 
tend earlier to insist upon the exclusion of certain boys and 
the inclusion of others in all social functions. The principle 
here in question might be much extended, so that we could 
say that men, if not influenced to the contrary by women, 
would fail to adopt the social distinctions which exist in 
modern society. In companies of men who are somewhat 
separated from complex social groups, as in lumbering and 
mining camps, thoroughgoing democracy prevails. Under 
such conditions, individuals are rated on a dynamic basis, 
and aU forms of caste distinctions are ignored. But the im- 
portation of women into such a community leads rapidly to 
stratification alons: lines indicated above. 



NEW BASES OP SOCIABILITY 23 

The principle sought to be developed here is that new 
bases for the expression of sociability gradually become 
established during adolescence. For one thing, gogj^j g^j.^^. 
economic independence seems to narrow the range ification on 
of sociable feeling, speaking generally. This is economic 
doubtless due, in its origin, to the development of ^*^*"^^ 
a feeling on the part of the individual of wealth that the 
person in humble circumstances can contribute nothing to 
his pleasure, unless he be a specialist in some sort of ser- 
vice, when he will be paid for what he does. So far as the 
adolescent is concerned, the recognition of such distinctions 
is often due to the constant allusion by his elders to the divi- 
sions in society between those who have and those who have 
not. M. at fifteen is made to feel by the group in which her 
companions are found that if she walks or visits with a cer- 
tain girl in another group she will displease the members of 
the first group, and may forfeit their friendship. They make 
her realize in many ways that she must confine her sociable 
expressions closely within the special group ; or, at least, she 
must not be friendly, except in a charitable way, with per- 
sons " lower " in the social scale. And " lower " means 
usually, though not in every case, of less evident wealth, 
which is revealed in a variety of social manifestations, as 
superior dress, houses, furniture, horses and carriages, splen- 
dor of receptions, and the like. In the newer parts of our 
country, lineage is not an important basis for social distinc- 
tion, though if it be coupled with wealth it is taken advan- 
tage of, by the girl especially, before she has completed her 
teens. But ancestry is not a sufficiently tangible thing 
strongly to impress the adolescent, though it may loom 
larger and larger as he approaches adulthood. The individ- 
ual just entering youth cannot appreciate very subtle bases 
for social distinction ; he must be impressed by a marked 
display of one sort or another in order that he may really 
feel that he is either superior or inferior to his fellows in the 
Social order, or their equal. 



24 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

So the adolescent, as he draws toward maturity, is ex- 
ceedingly active in trying to find his level in the social 
scale. As a boy, full of dynamic interests, he did not 
appreciate that there were levels which separated people 
who lived within visiting distance of each other; but the 
moment he began to give up efficiency in play as the great 
dominating aim in his life, that moment he entered upon a 
new order of social distinctions, which he had first to recog- 
nize and afterwards adapt himself to. Then he commenced 
the struggle to reach the highest level possible, and he 
found most of those about him doing the same. Why people 
desired to attain this " highest level," he probably did not 
in a serious way attempt to determine ; he simply felt the 
tension, and gave way in the direction to release it; 

Without question, then, the primary basis for social re- 
grouping during adolescence is of a monetary character, 
but it is not the only one. A " clever " boy or girl, if not 
too evidently lacking in this world's goods, may be made a 
favorite by those of larger means. So the leading scholar of 
the school, though indigent, may sometimes be sought after 
by the sororities and fraternities ; but it is rare that his 
scholarship alone attracts friends to him, although this is 
sometimes observed in simple communities, as in rural regions, 
where class distinctions have developed but slightly, the 
community remaining quite homogeneous. But in complex 
social groups, besides being a shining mark for his scholar- 
ship, and so adding some measure of dignity to the group 
to which he belongs, a youth must at the same time be 
unusually interesting in some way in order that the upper 
class may be friendly with him. Often the wealthy youths 
of both sexes are sought after without regard to their moral 
or intellectual qualities, or substantial accomplishments in 
any line ; but it is otherwise with the boy or girl of slender 
means. The personal qualities of the latter must be of the 
highest order, that they may be noticed and made the bases 
for social expression by the economically independent. 



CHARITABLE TENDENCIES 25 

This fact is plainly apparent in any educational institu- 
tion of secondary school or college grade, where there is a 
considerable body of indigent students who must "work 
their own way." Seldom, indeed, do the more favored 
groups manifest friendly interest in their poorer classmates. 
An exception is found in the case of a distinguished athlete, 
or musician, perhaps, or literary genius. The unusual man 
or woman intellectually, if poor, may be largely ignored by 
his fellows, so far as sociable expression is concerned, though 
instances of a contrary sort might be cited. The Phi Beta 
Kappa students are not as a rule favorites in the groups that 
really give character to college social life, at least in many 
institutions. Happily, though, in our great state universities 
at any rate, the groupings are so varied that a student may 
find a place in some one of them, no matter what may be 
his economic status. 

The Young Men's Christian Association, for instance, is 
always open to the student of upright intentions, whether 
he be rich or poor. It cuts through all social strata, and is 
friendly toward a man regardless of his economic charitable 
condition, or even his intellectual or other attain- !!"f®^°^®* 
ments. But this institution is an illustration of an iJiuty 
entirely different social grouping from anything noticed 
heretofore. It is formed for the explicit purpose of promot- 
ing good-will and friendliness among men regardless of 
their social relations ; it seeks opportunities for friendly ex- 
pression ; while these other groups that have been mentioned 
have in view solely the interests of the members thereof. 
The fraternity invites a man to enter into friendly relations 
vdth its members because it is thought that he wiU add to 
the pleasures of the group ; he perhaps is clever, or is gen- 
erous in the use of his money, or his family enjoys social 
distinction, and connection with it will add dignity to the 
fraternity, and so on. But the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation reaches out for a man when it is apparent that it can 
help him by bringing him into contact with men who will 



26 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

fraternize with him, and so save him from social isolation. 
This new attitude in sociability, which is not prominent 
until the individual gets well along in adolescent develop- 
ment, is of the utmost importance in contemporary advanced 
societies. As a result of it, practically every person in larger 
communities, no matter what may be his condition, — eco- 
nomic, intellectual, or even moral, — has opportunities for 
friendly intercourse with his kind. Perhaps the majority of 
people among us are predominantly " selfish " in their socia- 
bility, but there are enough of those of a different temper 
to make the lot of the social misfits less unfortunate than 
it otherwise would be. While this charitable tendency in 
sociability is most marked in maturity, still it begins to be 
strongly manifested before adolescence is completed, at least 
among those who continue under educational influences. It 
often happens that men and women who were intensely 
selfish in their friendliness as high-school students decide, 
as college seniors, to devote their lives to social settlement 
or missionary work. 

Before the adolescent period, children rarely show a 
disposition to commune with other children for the good 
they may do them ; in their sociable expressions they appar- 
ently do not have at aU in view the feelings of some 
needy classmate, say. They do not show an inclination to 
sacrifice their own pleasure for that of others who may 
be made happy by their friendly advances. Parents have to 
suggest, and even urge, that their children pay a visit to 
other children "who are lonely." During the pre-adoles- 
cent epoch, the young are but little affected by the repre- 
sentations of an uninteresting playmate as being "lone- 
some." They do not respond pleasantly when they are asked 
to invite him to play or dine with them ; they suggest some 
one in his place. They are not moved, either, when they 
are told that they ought to stay at home to keep a lonely 
brother or sister company. In short, children are not nor- 
mally charitable in their sociability. They choose their 



EfiSUMfi 27 

companions for the same reason in principle that they 
choose apples or sugar, — because they get from them plea- 
sure, though of a peculiar sort. It should be noted, how- 
ever, that children often show a friendly interest in some 
schoolmate who is sick. They will suggest taking food or 
flowers to him, though I have not observed very marked 
tendencies of this sort in young children. Their interest in 
the unfortunate is at best but momentary ; and usually a 
sick companion will speedily be forgotten for one who can 
partake in the plays and games of the group. 

During the first two months the child exhibits practically no ap- 
preciation of values as presented in his environment. It is probable 
that his first differentiation of values occurs in respect to 
persons as contrasted with things. From the beginning of 
his third month, the child manifests an inclination to commune with 
persons. In his intonations and featural expression in response to 
persons, he shows he is more or less instinctively social. With devel- 
opment, at least from the second year on, sociability becomes bound 
up with other feelings, arising out of the child's efforts to adjust him- 
self to his environment, social and otherwise. Prominent among these 
feelings are the inherited feeling of danger, and the feeling of depend- 
ence upon others. 

The highest form of sociable feeling, the interest in people for their 
own personal worth, does not manifest itself until the advent of the 
adolescent period — at about the fifteenth year with girls, and a year 
or two later with boys. As the child grows into boyhood or girlhood, 
the desire for mere personal presence subsides, and interest in people 
becomes dynamic in character. The basis for choice of companions now 
is leadership. Toward persons, young or old, who can " do things," 
sociability is manifested. The group disciplines any one of its number, 
unless he be a leader, who assumes superiority in any way. The highest 
moral and intellectual qualities do not appeal to the child strongly as 
bases for sociable expression. 

Adult social stratification does not appeal to the child. Groupings on 
the basis of social or economic status are not normally made or ap- 
preciated by children, but are due to proximity of residence and the 
influence of adults. Girls observe sectional limitations to some extent, 
but boys ignore even the color line in their choice of companions. Dress 
plays no part in the groupings among young boys, and has but little 
effect on girls before the tenth or eleventh year, except when continu- 
ally dwelt upon by parents. What her companions can do in a dynamic 
way is of chief interest to the young girl. Mere excellence in studies 



28 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

does not make one a favorite among children ; for the boy, especially, 
dynamic traits alone have value. However, girls of nine or ten some- 
times admire schoolmates who are superior in school work. All evidence 
indicates that before adolescence children will ignore the conventional 
groupings of adult society, even in communities where class distinctions 
are much emphasized, as in certain European countries. 

During adolescence, a re-grouping takes place, largely on the basis 
of wealth in one or another of its manifestations. In general, economic 
independence narrows the range and subdues the liveliness of sociable 
expression. Superior scholarship among the young may serve as a basis 
for social prestige, provided the possessor is unusually interesting in 
some other way, and has personal qualities of the highest order. There 
are social groups, however, such as the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation, which are not established on the basis of wealth or scholarship 
or any interest of a selfish nature ; such groups seek only to promote 
sociability among people. This charitable tendency in sociability is most 
marked in maturity ; it is rarely manifested until the adolescent period 
is reached. Before this time, children choose their companions for more 
or less selfish reasons, although they may show a kindly interest in a 
sick schoolmate, which, however, is apt to be monetary. Children are 
not normally charitable in their sociable expressions. 



CHAPTER II 

COMMUNICATION 

Before the child is a year old, he shows in most of his atti- 
tudes that he wishes to have those with whom he has friendly 

relations share with him in the appreciation of ^ 

„ . . The need of 

whatever he does or discovers of interest to him- communi- 

self ; and he wishes, further, to have all his acquaint- 
ances participate with him in his misfortunes of whatever 
sort. As he develops, this general tendency becomes ever 
more prominent in his thought and action, though revealed 
in ever more subtle ways. If one will observe the babe in 
the nursery, it will be seen that whenever he comes upon a 
toy or object of any kind that attracts his attention, or gives 
him pleasure, he will make an effort, feeble though it may 
appear, to call the attention of onlookers to it, and to have 
them express themselves toward it as he does. Later, when 
he begins to talk and to walk, he rarely discovers a new thing, 
to which he attaches any value, that he does not run with 
it, if possible, to his parents or other hospitable persons to 
communicate the good news to them. Most observers have 
found, with Kirkpatrick, that children seem especially de- 
sirous that others shall hear, see, and feel what they do, as 
well as that they themselves shall have the same experiences, 
if agreeable, that others in their presence are having. 

If the child constructs an object with his blocks or in his 
sand pile which pleases himself; if he performs an unusual 
deed with hands or voice or body; if he sees or hears any- 
thing which impresses him, — in every case his experience 
must, whenever possible, be shared with father, mother, 
brothers, sisters, and with any person who will listen, even 
if this person does not show marked appreciation.^ Indeed, 

^ A careful obsei-ver of children gives me the following incidents illustrat- 
ing certain phases of the principle in question : — 



30 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

the child will on occasion endeavor to share his experiences 
of every kind with indifferent and even hostile persons, if 
he can find no one else with whom he may communicate. 
The busy parent and teacher may receive the expressions of 
the child very coldly, and they may even go so far as to 
chastise him, in the hope that they may repress him ; and 
yet, in the face of stern opposition, he not infrequently seems 
unable to restrain this passion to communize, whatever hap- 
pens to him, or whatever he brings to pass as a result of his 
own initiative. He is much of the time at high social poten- 
tial, and he must discharge in order to restore equilibrium ; 
and no sooner is he discharged than he begins to be charged 
again. He appears not to be satisfied with any experience, 
or really to adjust himself to it, unless he can find others to 
take cognizance of it with him. In the same way he seems 
to be able to bear his adversities much better if he can re- 
late them to those who will respond sympathetically to him, 
or who will attempt to redress his wrongs. It is as though 
when others understand his troubles, they will bear them 
with him or prevent their recurrence. 

Watch the child communicating some ill-luck to his 
mother. As soon as he has aroused her sympathetic re- 
sponses, so that she appears to feel with him, or so that she 
shows that beyond doubt she will soothe him, and provide 
especially for his pleasure so as to offset his pain, — as soon 
as he has won her compassion and insured her assistance, he 
becomes more subdued in his expressions. Often the recital 
of a mishap, with accompanying demonstrations of suffering, 
seems to occur for the purpose mainly of arousing compas- 

" A family in very meagre circumstances, having invited guests to luncheon, 
had made more than usual preparations for their entertainment. The small 
girl, bubbling -with enthusiasm, mortified her mother by telling the guests 
that there were oranges in the kitchen, and chocolate cake, etc. 

" A little girl of three living across the street from a school building used 
to run over to see the teachers after school hours. The principal was not to 
return the following year. One day, having just learned of this, the child ran 
into his room and said: ' Oh, I 'm so glad you aren't coming back next 
year.' " 



THE BEGINNINGS OF RESTRAINT 31 

sionate attitudes in those addressed, or to cause rivals or tor- 
mentors to be disciplined. This tendency is very marked in 
some children up to the ninth or tenth year, while in others it 
begins to decline earlier than this. Normally the adolescent 
keeps his minor troubles to himself ; or, if he communicates 
them at all, he does so in an indirect manner, by way of 
suggestion largely. At fifteen, he does not crave the demon- 
strative expressions of sympathy from his elders that he de- 
manded at the age of five, say ; though he is often not averse 
to having his associates know that he is enduring hardship. 
But by this time he is beginning to experience something of 
the attitude of the hero or the martyr. He will bear his mis- 
fortunes alone and without verbal complaint, though deep 
down in his feeling he desires that people should recognize 
him as a hero or a martyr. It should be noted that the boy 
of sixteen is much less expressive of his experiences, whether 
painful or otherwise, than the girl of this age, though she is 
now more reserved than she was as a child. But she seems 
to need the support and comfort to be derived from the 
generous participation in most of her experiences of every 
one about her who is in sympathetic accord with her. She 
does not " keep things to herself," as the boy begins to do 
at this time ; and the differentiation of the sexes in this 
respect becomes more marked as they approach maturity. 

In the earliest years, everything exceptional or in any way 
interesting that occurs, and of which the child becomes 
aware, whether he be the cause thereof or merely The ijegiii- 
an observer, must be communized ; but as his sphere j^t^aj^i 
of adiustment enlarges, he gradually discovers in the com- 
that people are not at all interested m certain activity 
kinds of experiences, and they may even be annoyed by 
their recital, while they are much interested in other kinds. 
And so he learns, slowly of course, to confine his commu- 
nizing activity to matters that his hearers take some interest 
in. When he begins sharing his experiences he does not 
take account carefully of the attitudes of the alter in rela- 



32 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

tion to his communications ; he derives pleasure seemingly 
from the mere portrayal of whatever has affected him. It 
is as though he felt strain and tension until he had given 
his experience publicity ; nature seems to urge him to pub- 
lish it, no matter what the outcome may be. But as he — 
comes into possession of reflective attitudes, he takes account, 
more or less, of the social outcome of his expressions, and 
then he starts on the process of selecting for publication those 
experiences which will please the persons who learn of 
them, or which will add to his own good reputation, or 
which will operate to the disadvantage of his rivals or those 
who have for any reason aroused his enmity. 

What the child desires above everything else, especially 
when he enters the reflective epoch, ^ is the approval of 
persons, expressed in their bodily attitudes, their rewards, 
material and social, and the like ; and his deepest concern 
is to communicate all those experiences — but only those — 
which will win him the good-will of the persons of whose 
presence he is in any way conscious. But he also desires to 
humiliate his competitors, and to subjugate those who will 
not submit to his domination or who attempt to exercise 
authority over him, and in his communications he will seek 
to arouse the anger of his auditors against his enemies. 
From the third year on to adolescence, at any rate, chil- 
dren are ready " tattlers " ; they easily run to the teacher or 
parent with everything they see, even in their friendly asso- 
ciates, which they know has been forbidden, and which they 
fancy may bring chastisement upon the offender, or credit 
to themselves. To an adult, not familiar with the impulsive 
character of children's actions, it seems impossible that they 
should endeavor to get their playmates into trouble, as 
they so readily do. 

There is, of course, a deeper meaning in this phenom- 
enon. Children insist upon any prohibition of their own 
activities being made universal, so that no one may do what 
^ See the author's Dynamic Factors in Education, chap. i. 



DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES 33 

they have been reproved for doing. Then when they see an 
act performed, which in respect to themselves has been the 
occasion for discipline, they demand that the performer 
shall be treated as they have been. It may be added that 
they are not, in the early years, quite so ready in publishing 
news of the actions of an associate which may bring to him 
the rewards which have been given to themselves under 
similar circumstances. Those students of mental develop- 
ment who maintain that the ego and the alter are but 
phases of a imity ; that what the ego demands for and of 
self he also demands for and of the alter under all circum- 
stances, may be suspected of not having observed children 
carefully, or they would have noticed that the individual is 
more urgent in insisting that the alter should bear the pains 
and penalties of his misdeeds, than that he should bear 
them himself under similar circumstances. 

It may be worth while to note further how, in accordance 
with the principle mentioned above, the character of the 
individual's communications changes with devel- Deveiop- 
opment. It has already been intimated that if we ^^^geain 
observe any child at the dawn of social conscious- |^® oharao- 
ness, and follow him on for a number of years, we municauons 
may see that his tendency is to communicate all experience 
that has value for him, no matter what it may be. His ex- 
periences, however, do not at the outset extend over a wide 
range ; they relate almost wholly to nursery undertakings 
and discoveries, as well as to the good and ill fortunes 
arising from contact with people or things. The child views 
himself as in the centre of the world environing him, and 
the pronoun " I, " actually used or at least implied, appears 
in every communication. At the same time the pronouns 
" you " and " he " are in evidence ; which indicates that in 
the child's thought there is an alter to be pleased, or at least 
to be made interested.^ This alter may be his dog or kitten 
or doU ; but at any rate there is an alter^ — a some one, 

^ See the author's Linguistic Development and Education, chaps, ii-iy. 



34 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

more or less like himseK, who can appreciate his experience 
and respond to him. At five, he is chiefly concerned with 
securing social recognition of, and reaction upon, the feats 
he performs in running, climbing, throwing, talking, and 
so on ad libitum. He is constantly calling attention to 
what he has done, or is able to do, in more or less exact 
imitation of most of the simpler activities that he witnesses 
in his environment. By the age of ten, the individual's 
communications relate largely to his experiences in games 
and plays., and in competition with his fellows, more es- 
pecially the former with the girl and the latter with the 
boy. In the talk of the girl at this time, there is normally 
not so constant allusion to competitive activity as in the 
case of the boy, but she tells what a good time she has 
with her playmates in the making of dolls, or the like, and 
what success she has in her work, — in school, perhaps. 
But while the boy talks of these matters to some extent, 
they are not predominant in his expressions. He is becom- 
ing aware of the qualities, abilities, and powers (princi- 
pally athletic, combative, and " tricky ") of his associates, 
and he wishes the world to know how he stands in com- 
parison with his competitors. Of course, he still commu- 
nicates meaningful experiences of every sort, whether 
pleasurable or otherwise ; but the concerns he regarded as 
of prime importance at five have ceased to play the princi- 
pal role in his expressions at this period. At the same time 
it should be noted that his talk does not yet relate at all 
prominently to the intellectual or ethical activities of his 
associates. 

Following the boy on into adolescence, we find that at 
eighteen what was just beginning to be manifested at ten 

has become a passion now. The struggle for the 
Tho tsndon- 

cies at more marked or direct material and social favors 
adolescence ggg^^g ^^^ ^^^.j keen, and the boy's communica- 
tions relate prominently to his intellectual, social, and 
physical triumphs. By this time he has established himself 



TENDENCIES AT ADOLESCENCE 35 

in one or more groups, or it may be " gangs," and he is 
beginning to think of the group as a unit in competition 
with other groups, or perhaps with the policeman or the 
shopkeeper.^ The girl is conscious mainly of social, aesthetic, 
and intellectual demands for success, while the boy is more 
conscious of competition in athletics of every sort, and 
debate. Much of the talk of boys ahd girls of this age 
concerns the relations between the sexes, which interest 
began to manifest itself at the advent of the adolescent pe- 
riod. Neither boys nor girls at the age of ten normally pay 
any attention to sex distinctions ; in their expressions they 
do not differentiate boys from girls. But at fifteen they give 
publicity to any sort of " attachment " which may be brought 
to their attention. They seem to be on the lookout for signs 
of developing feeling between a boy and a girl ; and if they 
cannot detect a real case of affection, they easily concoct 
one, and give it as wide publicity, and comment upon it as 
vigorously, as though it were genuine. This tendency con- 
tinues without abatement until the adolescent fever begins 
to be subdued somewhat, though it is never wholly aban- 
doned, even in maturity. Needless to add, perhaps, some 
persons lose interest early in this phase of social life, be- 
cause of the dominance of other interests, which they devote 
all their energies to promulgating ; but as a rule the detec- 
tion of evidences of amor between two persons of any age 
in the community sets all the tongues a-wagging. Long 
before the church publishes the banns, Dame Rumor spreads 
the news throughout the community. 

^ In the author's home city, boys begin to form football groups as early 
as nine. There are a number in the city now that hold together quite well, 
and " train " as their models, the university men, do. In this city football 
has been the means of synthesizing these social atoms into molecules. But 
it is significant that when the " season " is past, the molecules break up 
into the atoms again. Some of the boys who are together constantly during 
the autumn do not see anything of each other during the winter, and they 
appear to have no interest in one another. When the game is on, their com- 
radeship is based on capacity in this particular activity, and not on other 
and less dynamic characteristics. 



36 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

Children of fifteen are still eager to communicate " news *' 
in whicli the people to whom it is told show an interest; 
but this news relates to increasingly complex phases of 
social and ethical life. At this age the individual has aban- 
doned almost completely the communication of the simple 
personal interests which wholly occupied his attention at 
five. During the epoch extending through the college period 
at least, the typical boy is not concerned primarily with eth- 
ical and moral conduct in the more complex relations of 
society, but only with the simpler phases thereof. As a 
student, his talk is predominantly of athletic and debating 
contests, relations of students and faculty, and the like ; 
but in his expressions the notion of playing the game fair 
is becoming predominant. The notion is not absent entirely 
from the talk of the boy of ten, but it is much more pro- 
minent at twenty. At this latter age, the individual is less 
eager to publish his own achievements of a simple physical, 
or even intellectual or social character, than he was at five 
or ten or fifteen, though he has not completely outgrown 
this tendency, and it may be that he never will. 

By the time maturity is reached, the individual's commu- 
nications normally relate largely to the social effects of 
the conduct of his associates, and to the measure of their 
success in their business, social, political, academic, pro- 
fessional, or religious activities; and also to the progress 
which is being made by individuals, by the community, and 
by mankind in general along one or another of these lines. 
Thus he has progressed from the point where his own indi- 
vidual activities engrossed his attention, to the point where 
he is concerned to a considerable extent with the measure 
to which his fellows observe the fundamental rules of the 
social game, so far as he participates in it, either as a player 
or as an interested observer. Important instances coming 
to his attention of fair or foul play, as he conceives it, are 
given publicity, and his attitude toward them is revealed in 
a positive manner. It is probable that the majority of indi- 



THE RETICENT TYPE 37 

viduals never grow out of this last epoch ; if they continue 
to develop, they simply perfect the tendency dominant during 
the epoch. But certain persons continue specializing, until 
their interests in communication relate wholly to the impart- 
ing of discoveries in the special field of knowledge which 
they are cultivating. The writer is associated with men who 
talk of little but the results of research in their own or 
related fields. Their consuming ambition is to make contri- 
butions to knowledge, which implies discovery and effective 
publication. When they establish a new principle, or uncover 
a new fact, they are as eager to apprise the world of it as 
the child is to publish his discoveries in his nursery. These 
men are, in some cases, ill at ease in a drawing-room, for 
they have little interest in the matters that are there being 
given publicity, and they have lost their sense of social 
values as represented in this situation. They are, in short, 
specialists, whose function it is to communize only certain 
groups of facts ; these facts have taken such complete 
possession of them that unrelated facts can find no lodg- 
ment in their consciousness. Consequently they cannot be 
made publishing media for news and gossip of any sort. To 
some extent, they interfere with the dissemination of gossip, 
since they are incapable of taking it up and passing it 
along. In groups of savants, local happenings of the moment 
never gain currency. 

Before leaving this topic a word should be said regard- 
ing the reserved, the reticent, the non-communicative per- 
son. From the very beginning of expressive ac- ipjig jg^i. 
tivity, children differ markedly, in their eagerness '^^^^ ^^^ 
for and freedom in communication. The reserved type of 
child is inclined to listen while others talk, though this 
depends in a measure upon the occasion. G., seven years 
of age, is very shy in the presence of strangers, and will 
not communicate readily on any subject.^ She does not 

^ Timidity is, without question, the cause of much apparent reticence 
in children, as in older persons. A correspondent giTes me the following 
illustration : — 



38 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

even enjoy being addressed by persons with whom she is 
not acquainted. She does not " make friends " easily ; and 
when she goes out into the world she clings to her mother, 
and refuses to make advances to any one.^ But in her own 

" The other morning when I was coming up from the station on the car, 
a little boy of kindergarten age was seated immediately in front of me, well 
toward the front of the car. Soon a little girl came in, and after scanning 
the passengers came eagerly forward, and with a friendly greeting seated 
herself at the lad's side. Without a response, blushing and evidently em- 
barrassed, he retired to the far side of the seat, and occupied himself with 
the view afforded from the window. Not to be thus put off, the wee maiden 
slid over toward him, and with her hand on his shoulder said : ' Donald, 
Donald ; why, don't you hear me, Donald ? ' The lad became more engrossed 
with the view outside. 'I thought for a minute,' she continued, 'that I 
was n't going to find you, and then I saw a little boy here, and it was Don- 
ald.' When I left the car, after some minutes, Donald was just beginning 
to appear natural. I dare say hia embarrassment was due to the conversa- 
tion of older people." 

1 M. I. M. sends the following description of a reticent ehUd : — 

" A little boy, five or six years of age, was very quiet, both in action and 
in speech. He would sit quietly in a chair for an hour or two at a time, 
without saying a word. He was left motherless, and was taken by a woman 
who was very fond of children. She tried to play with the little boy, but he 
did n't know how, and would usually sit back and watch her. He was so 
uncanny that he ' got on her nerves.' He liked best to sit still and listen to 
her sing. Often when she was trying to teach him to play, he would inter- 
rupt her and ask her to sing. 

" I could not believe he was well, but the doctor said he was. His father 
said he was always that way. 

" When a baby came to his new home, nearly two years after he went 
there, he seemed to find his first interest. He was devoted to the baby, and 
would talk and play with her by the hour, but not in a healthy childish 
way ; he was like a little, old grandfather. 

" His mother had been an invalid, and he had been obliged to ' keep 
quiet ' during the last year of her life, but his father insists that ' he was 
always like that.' " 

M. W. cites the following, in illustration of differences in the tendency of 
children to communicate experiences : — 

" W. and G. are two brothers, who always were very different. Even when 
first in school, G. did not tell school happenings, either to his parents, his 
sister, or his friends. Usually when a child is hurt, the first thought is to 
run to mother. One day George was accidentally struck in the face with a 
sledge hammer, breaking his nose and covering his face with blood. Instead 
of going home or to his father's place of business, he hid in a fence corner. 
Some relatives discovered him and took him home. They would never have 
found out from George how it happened, but the man who was using the 
hammer told of it. G. never changed ; his studies at school, whether easy or 



THE RETICENT TYPE 39 

home, among those she knows well, she goes to the other ex- 
treme, so that she must be repressed, though she resists any 
mterference with her freedom of speech in the home. Con- 
trasted with this type is another, illustrated by S., who will 
communicate with people under any and all circumstances. 
v., at ten, has passed through a non-communicative period, 
and now he will tell his experiences freely to any one, 
whether stranger or familiar friend. X. in his earlier years 
was a very " open," communicative boy ; but now at nine- 
teen he is reticent toward all but a narrow circle of inti- 
mate friends.^ His former associates say he has become ex- 
tremely egotistic, and considers himself superior to most of 

difficult, were never discussed ; his love affairs were jealously guarded ; his 
business is his own ; even his wife shares not in those things. He is like his 
father, who is contented to live alone in a small cottage at an Indian agency, 
doing his own work, hunting and fishing, while his wife keeps house for 
the children that they may attend school in a city in another state. It is not, 
perhaps, just as he would wish it, but he is contented. 

" W. has always been anxious to tell where he has been and what he has 
done. G. liked to go to visit an old aunt in the most lonesome part of the 
country, but W. would never stay ; he might go for a day, but night found 
him. at home. W. always chooses to have his work bring him into contact 
with as many people as possible. He has always told his mother and sister 
of the good times when on a trip or camping party ; he is even willing to 
share with his bachelor sister his love affairs." 

^ A. S. sends me the following interesting observation, showing the change 
in respect to communicativeness which often occurs with development : — 

" A young woman more than ordinarily reticent, has interested me. When 
a small child she was somewhat bashful, but developed into what might be 
termed a harum-scarum youngster, fond of boys and their games, talkative 
and light-hearted. Her mother having died before she was six, she had 
early to assume responsibilities which most children do not know. These 
influenced her little until the adolescent period, when she seemed to assume 
a very different attitude toward everything and every one about her. She 
shunned boys' society, was diffident in their presence, grew quiet and re- 
served, in fact she appeared to take a defensive attitude towards those about 
her. This characteristic she has never been able to overcome, though she 
has made an extreme effort to do so since she has grown to womanhood. 
She dislikes meeting strangers, must know a person well before he knows 
her at all, is everything but a success socially, prefers not to talk if she may 
listen, and is considered cold and unfriendly. Her reticence, it would appear, 
is a result of her having been forced to take the responsibility of looking 
out for herself too early, of perhaps distrusting the kindliness of individuals 
about her, and of having thought too much about herself." 



40 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

those he meets in daily life, so that he feels he can do no 
better than keep his own company much of the time. Again, 
G. at thirty is a good illustration of the reticent type. He 
is a scholar, and is apparently more fond of his books than 
of persons.^ He seems timid and ill at ease with most peo- 
ple. He is seemingly well disposed toward his fellows, but 
he prefers to commune with them and to serve them through 
the medium of the written rather than the spoken word. 
His literary expressions are all distinctly ethical and social 
in character ; and his friends say he " means well." But 
he lacks the energy, perhaps, to adapt himself to people in 
the flesh, or his thought does not move rapidly enough to 
keep abreast of ordinary conversation, and he feels himself 
dominated by his associates, With the pen all is different ; 
his " retiring " nature can now express itself without re- 
straint according to its desires. In the same way, this 
reticent person can receive communications, through his 
books, from all the people of merit who have lived and 
recorded their observations and experiences, and he can 
appropriate these communications without making any re- 
sponse on his own part. So he is much easier and happier 
in his library than among people ; and for this reason he 
shuns the reception-room and most places where men do 
congregate, and where response is expected from him. 

Whatever may be the fundamental motive of the indi- 
vidual's passion to communize experience, it must be noted, 

^ The following' cases are typical of persons one meets frequently : — 
" A lady (Miss D.) was formerly very sociable, and sought society for the 
* good time ' it gave her. Now she is so thoroughly engrossed with her 
special work that she dislikes callers, because she ' begrudges the time it 
takes.' She says that comparatively few have anything to say worth listening 
to. She has not lost interest in communication, for she writes and lectures." 
" In my own case," writes M. I. M., " I was reticent toward all people 
except the members of my own family until about eighteen years of age. 
Now I am reticent toward certain groups, and too talkative towards others. 
In a crowd I like to listen and observe. I am nervous and uncomfortable in 
the presence of those I consider my superiors, but do not enjoy anything 
better than to give a public reading, and the larger the crowd the better I 
can control myself." 



THE COMMUNIZING ACTIVITY 41 

at any rate, that It is on the whole socially advantageous in 
the outcome. The result of this activity is, speak- ^jjg gggi^j 
ing generally, that one's fellows profit by one's ^^^^^ °* 
own inventions, accomplishments, beliefs, ethical munizing 
conceptions, and so on. And what is of chief im- *° ' ^ 
portance, the individual discovers through his expressive ac- 
tivity that which is regarded by his fellows as of real worth, 
and this is a guide to him in determining what he should 
continue to practice, as well as what he ought prudently 
to abandon. That which, on the whole, people approve, will 
acquire value for the individual, while that which they con- 
demn he will sooner or later cast aside. Of course, when the 
reactions of the social environment run counter to the na- 
tive tendencies of the child, he will struggle long and hard to 
bring people around to his view ; but if he cannot accom- 
plish this, he will in due course, as a rule, yield to social 
pressure. Take this for illustration : A boy rushes in from 
the street, and with great enthusiasm teUs his parents some 
new words he has heard. They frown upon him, and strive 
to make him realize that " good " people dislike these words. 
He tries them again perhaps upon his older brothers and 
sisters ; and they react as the parents did. Now, unless he is 
upon the street a great deal, these words will not find lodg- 
ment in his vocabulary, except he practices them for the sake 
of annoying certain persons whom he likes to tease. On the 
other hand, if the parents are pleased to hear these new words 
he will be stimulated to continue in their use, and they will be 
likely to become a permanent part of his linguistic posses- 
sions. So he discovers a new trick, it may be turning a somer- 
sault, and he calls upon every one to witness him do it. The 
observers declare against it, saying it does not look nice, or 
he will soil his clothes, or break his neck, or what not, and 
they may decline to look at him when he does it. ^ If he cannot 

^ It should be noted that a boy will not ordinarily be dissuaded from per- 
forming any activity, simply because people say he will injure himself. On 
the contrary, he usually regards this as a challenge, which he will readily 
accept. 



42 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

find any one to commend it, he will normally soon leave it 
for something else that receives social approval and applause. 
These instances are typical of what is going on constantly 
among children when they are given any measure of freedom 
in their activities, and the principle is applicable at every 
stage of development. 

When the adolescent exhibits himself, or describes the 
conduct of another, in some concrete situation, he does not 
fail to get his cue from the expressions of the people who 
hear him as to the desirability of continuing the action in 
question. Under certain conditions he may be incited to con- 
tinue in a line of conduct which is criticised by his teacher or 
others, because he is himself hostile to them and he seeks 
opportunities to torment them, or to show his independence. 
But, on the whole, he abandons what is generally condemned 
by those with whom he associates. H. returns from a visit to 
the home of E., and in narrating her experiences she men- 
tions, rather incidentally, how impertinently E. responded to 
her mother's requests. All who listen to H. express in the 
strongest terms their disapproval of E.'s conduct, and H., 
without realizing it perhaps, does not fail to learn a use- 
ful lesson. So she mentions performances at the homes of 
other companions that draw forth the disapproval of her 
auditors, and at the same time she describes situations that 
meet their approval ; and in this way she gains an impression 
of what is permissible, and what is not, with respect to these 
particular specimens of conduct. The principle applies to 
all her learning at this period. 

As the individual approaches adolescence, he not only con- 
tinues to get educative reactions upon his expressions from 
The iniiu- his social environment, but he plays a constantly 
Individual more important part in determining these reac- 
miningpub- *^<^^S- ^J ^^^ ^^^^ ^® ^^ twelve, often consider- 
iic opinion ably earlier than this, as with V., for example, he 
expresses decided opinions respecting the rightfulness and 
wrongfulness of much that occurs in his environment, and 



THE INFLUENCE OP THE INDIVIDUAL 43 

that he is incessantly giving publicity to as he has expe- 
rience with it. Already his individual opinions are begin- 
ning to have some weight in determining the general opinions 
of the group, at least among the members of his own " set," 
particularly if he is a leader. In this way he has influence, 
slight as it may be, in shaping public sentiment relating to 
the matters in which he is interested, — as to whether boys 
should be prohibited from playing on the school grounds, 
for instance. As a rule, of course, the adult portion of the 
conununity, regarded as a unit rather than as individuals, 
is not affected to any extent by the views of "mere boys" 
on any subject, and yet occasionally the latter do make some- 
thing of an impression, even before they reach the adoles- 
cent period. But as they move on through adolescence their 
opinions are given increasingly greater consideration by 
adults, until in the university epoch they not uncommonly 
secure reforms in politics, even in violation of long-contin- 
ued custom. 

In the beginning of his communizing activity, the indi- 
vidual is mainly a learner, though he is himself not at all 
aware of it ; but in the end he expresses himself, for the 
sake largely of becoming teacher or guide or law-maker. 
In other words, as a child he expresses himself, sub-con- 
sciously as a rule, for the purpose mainly of finding out 
what sort of behavior will result most advantageously for 
himself ; but as he matures, he expresses himself for the pre- 
dominant purpose of enforcing his own conceptions upon 
others, and so making them universal. When the average 
person reaches maturity, his principal, if not his sole, mo- 
tive in the matter of communizing experience is to set up 
his opinions and practices as the standards for the commu- 
nity at large. The child will, without resistance often, take 
criticism of his conduct and follow it ; the high-school boy 
normally does so much less easily ; while the college man 
will ordinarily fight long and strenuously in defense of his 
mode of conduct and his views of men and things. This is 



44 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

as we might expect it to be. The child, being plastic, can 
adjust himself readily to new standards of conduqt ; but as 
he develops, he normally loses his plasticity ; and self-preser- 
vation, social rather than physical, urges him to make uni- 
versal his ideals and habits when he gets set, or else he will 
in time be left out of account in social calculations. In a 
way every individual, as he settles into permanent form, 
takes up arms in support of the principles of action which 
he embodies in his own conduct, not so much because he 
thinks them right in general, as because he wants to be 
counted in the majority, in order that what he believes and 
can do will be most highly esteemed, and in consequence 
well rewarded by the community. 

Throughout this discussion, provision has been made for 
individual variation from normal tendencies ; but nowhere 
is this more marked than at this point. While most people 
in maturity tend to defend their practices and give them 
social approval and prominence, still in every community 
one may see adults who are genuine " searchers after truth." 
The writer knows well one man who is rather more favor- 
able toward the beliefs and practices of others than toward 
his own. He often doubts the worth or efficiency of the no- 
tions and modes of conduct with which he has come to ma- 
turity, and he is inclined to find fault with his education. 
His associates say he lacks self-confidence. He is not a good 
fighter for his own interests or beliefs. But the fact that he 
is a marked exception among his colleagues tends to estab- 
lish the rule. 

It was suggested above that the reactions of the social 

environment upon the individual's expressions result, on the 

The iniiu- whole, in confirming what is acceptable, and sup- 

environ-^" pressing what is evil ; but there are exceptions 

mentonthe which should be noted. In stating the principle it 
Individual's ^, ^ ^ . 

expressions was assumed that the social environment acting 
on the individual strongly in<Jorses the right and condemns 
the wrong ; but this is Rot always the case. A. has some- 



THE INFLUENCE OF THE GROUP 45 

times played with a group of boys who exhibit the atti- 
tudes of the slum toward many of the activities of society. 
They will ridicule him when he says it is wrong to use vulgar 
language, and they hold up as their model the boy who is 
the most ready in the use of what they regard as dynamic 
speech. So they ridicule him for other expressions which 
his parents would praise him for, and they urge him on to 
actions which in his home and school environment are con- 
demned. Now, he quickly shows the influence of this, let us 
say, unwholesome social environment, and he would not need 
to be long in it before he would get a quite different esti- 
mate of social values from what he now has. It is not so 
much that he would have different copies set him to imitate, 
as that his expressions would turn out very differently from 
what they now do. After all, it is the outcome of actions 
that determines what will survive in conduct. This is one 
reason why, when a boy allies himself with any particular 
social group, as the " gang " in our cities, or a gambling group, 
or an athletic group, he rapidly adopts the general traits of 
the group, because he learns readily to practice those expres- 
sions that win the applause of the crowd, and avoid those 
that incite ridicule. 

While the principle just stated holds as a general thing, 
still a further qualification is necessary. Normally the child 
takes due account of the outcome of his actions, gradually 
selecting for repetition those that people reward him for, 
and abandoning those that bring upon him punishment or 
criticism of any sort. But, as already intimated, this does 
not imply that every boy of five, say, is observant of the 
attitudes of people toward all his actions, except in respect 
to those activities that have very serious consequences, as 
in the case of thievery, for example. So far as the majority 
of his acts are concerned, he is more or less indifferent at 
the outset to the reactions of the people about him, and the 
ordinary admonitions and warnings of parents have to be 
repeated over and oyer again, and often they have no effect 



46 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

whatever. The child follows his own inclinations, except 
when these lead him into very definite trouble of consider- 
able importance. This is probably more of a masculine than 
a feminine trait ; or at least, the girl earlier becomes keenly 
appreciative of the attitudes of the social environment, even 
when these are not forcibly expressed. The boy must be 
coerced into conformity by his parents and his teacher, and 
often by his fellows ; though he sometimes comes into groups, 
usually older than himself, when he is a willing slave, and 
he offers no resistance whatever to their suggestions, nor 
does he try to carry through his own enterprises in the face 
of the opposition of the group, as he consciously does in the 
home. In the first situation he is a follower and learner, while 
in the latter he is a bully. 

A peculiar trait of social opposition already referred to 
incidently merits a further word in this connection. Prob- 
Sociai ^^^y 6very child is placed in situations at times 

opposition when he deliberately attempts to run counter to the 
expressed wishes of his associates. For one thing, he may 
desire to hector those with whom he is in competition, and 
so he does what he thinks will annoy them. But more often 
he craves the distinction to be derived from being in opposi- 
tion to his fellows. If they find fault with him he shows he 
is pleased ; and the more violent they become, only so that 
they do not inflict bodily injury upon him, the more he en- 
joys it. His pleasure increases according to the measure of 
their displeasure. Later on, when he begins to establish his 
group relations, he not infrequently courts the disapproval 
of antagonistic groups. Usually children of any age cannot 
ignore ridicule ; they either wilt before it or attack their 
persecutors. But when adolescence is reached, one may 
occasionally find persons who purposely draw upon them- 
selves ridicule because of their manners, their dress, or 
their views. It seems at bottom to be due to a love of dis- 
tinction, however secured, and also to the love of combat. 
In social opposition the individual is incessantly in the 



CONSCIOUSNESS A SPECIAL PHASE 47 

combative attitude. Sometimes he opposes himself to practi- 
cally everything that goes on about him ; he fights against 
all forms of social practice. He must always be " on the 
other side," because he is essentially a combatant, and is not 
happy in times of peace. 

We must now look at a special phase of this communiz- 
ing activity. It was indicated above that the child early 
comes to feel the need of being constantly in the congdoug. 

presence of persons, to whom he may communi- nessisa 
. . . .... stage ; who 

cate all his experiences, and in whose activities he are the 

may share. It is rare, if ever, that one sees chil- P^y®"' 
dren who can be really content to carry on their enterprises 
in solitude. A normal child will not remain by himself if 
he can have with him people who are in sympathy with him, 
— that is, who will comfort him when he is in distress ; 
who will receive kindly his invitations to observe what things 
he can make and what deeds he can perform ; who will show 
him new tricks, explain new situations to him, and so on. 
However, if he cannot find actual companions, or if he be 
suppressed in his spontaneous desires by those around him, — 
father, teacher, and others, — he may not indulge his socia- 
ble tendencies as freely as other children. But even in this 
latter case he will, during waking moments, rarely be alone 
in the extreme sense of this term, for at least in his fancy 
there will be people who will seem real to him, and who will 
participate in aU his experiences. He wiU talk incessantly 
to these people who dwell in his imagination, describing 
what he is doing, and conducting himself as though they 
responded to him. When he has accomplished anything of 
note in his own estimation, he will express himself to these 
imaginary observers, much as he does when there are before 
him persons whose approval he is soliciting. The content of 
his consciousness is predominantly personal ; people are alto- 
gether absent from it only infrequently. 

As the individual's experiences increase and he gains in 
the power of inhibition, he normally comes to restrain the 



48 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

tendency to communicate aloud with the people in his imagi- 
nation ; but nevertheless, it is evident to any observer that 
people are there and guiding him in his conduct. It is appar- 
ent, also, that the principle in question becomes ever more 
important and comprehensive with development. In adult 
life we are always working and playing, reflecting and per- 
forming, with people looking on, or at least with the feeling 
of a personal presence to be taken account of. A man in 
his study, for instance, writes with his readers in view ; and 
really all he does is determined more or less consciously by 
their approval or criticism. So the teacher prepares his les- 
son with a class before him in fancy ; the orator rehearses 
his speech with an audience in the focus of attention, and 
so on. One cannot perform such an apparently simple thing 
as to buy a tie without being determined in his choice by 
the attitudes of the persons who stand out most clearly in 
his imagination. This is not to say that he is explicitly 
aware of what considerations are involved in his choosing. 
He certainly does not summon by name each individual in 
this imaginary group, and ask his opinion. It is probable 
that in most of the adult's actions of the character indicated 
no single personality stands forth as a particular individual, 
and his special advice sought and followed, though this is 
doubtless the case sometimes. One's model, as a special per- 
son, will be his adviser in some critical situation. At times 
we all say to ourselves (some of us say it more frequently 
than others), " How would X. (our model) conduct himself 
under these circumstances? What would he say? How 
would he say it?" and so on ad libitum. But in most of 
our adjustments in mature life, distinct personalities prob- 
ably do not function focally in consciousness. Individuals 
become merged into types, and these gradually become con- 
densed into attitudes of approval, indifference, or condem- 
nation. It is a general law of mental development, which has 
been sketched elsewhere,^ that images, whether of persons 
1 In the author's Education as Adjustment, Part III. 



RECOGNITION OF PUBLIC OPINION 49 

or of things, tend upon repetition of adjustments in which 
they are involved to coalesce into larger unities, and ulti- 
mately to disappear altogether from the focus of conscious- 
ness, according as there becomes established a disposition 
to act in definite appropriate ways governed originally by 
these images. Thus, in the end explicit imagery is not essen- 
tial to determine action in effective adaptation to the objects 
which initiated the images. 

In the early stages of development, then, the child's social 
consciousness is occupied with distinct, concrete personal- 
ities ; father, mother, teacher, and special play- Tie devei- 
mates stand out as individuals, and play their responsivo- 
part in all important actions. Children from three °o^°njty 
on into early adolescence, when corrected for any sentiment ^- 
act, are very apt to cite the example of father or teacher 
or some other individual in justification of the act. While 
often, no doubt, children seek to escape censure and the in- 
fliction of penalties by citing the action of some one who 
stands well with the authorities in indorsement of their 
own action where they are aware of differences, nevertheless 
they are commonly, if not usually, sincere in the matter ; 
they really conceive that they are doing what would meet 
the approval of the persons who have in some way become 
their arbiters of right and wrong. One reason why their 
action so often seems insincere to the adult is because the 
latter cannot imagine how the arbiter cited could indorse 
the act in question ; but the child is not ready in detecting 
the differentiaB of special acts. He applies to special cases, 
in a crude sort of way, general tendencies to action without 
noting particular modifications ; so he often goes astray 
when he feels he is acting in conformity to principles ap- 
proved by his models. 

It should be appreciated that the young child, four or five 
years of age, does not refer to general, but only to individual 
practice or sentiment or opinion, in indorsement of his con- 
duct when it is under examination. One never hears him 



60 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

say, " People do it," or " Every one thinks it is right." 
Instead he says, " Mother (or, it may be Miss H., his 
teacher, or Albert, his playmate) thinks it is right for me 
to do it." But as development proceeds, as the range of social 
contact broadens, and as action in all typical situations be- 
comes facile and more or less habitual, individual arbiters 
for the child become consolidated, so to speak, and there is 
gradually established a sense of what the majority of the 
individuals would advise, — the general, and in time the 
public, opinion of the community. 

This sense of a general trend of opinion in reference to 
the ordinary activities of daily life arises from contact with 
the group with which the child has most intimate relations. 
For instance, V. has already, at nine, a sense of the atti- 
tudes of a group of playmates toward a few of the situations 
presented in his adjustments, and he is influenced to some 
extent thereby. He also has a more or less clear conscious- 
ness of the general opinion of the people in the immediate 
neighborhood regarding certain concrete matters, as out- 
door games, especially those played on Sunday. Further, 
he has a quite definite feeling respecting the teacher attitude 
toward various kinds of conduct ; he sometimes says to his 
brothers and sisters, " The teachers will not like it " ; or " I 
know there is no use to ask the teachers, for they will not 
let us do " this or that. Beyond these typical examples, 
V.'s appreciation of public opinion in reference to modes 
of thought and action is very slight, if indeed it exists at all. 
It is true that he has heard parents, teachers, and others 
speak of certain ethical and moral principles in a general 
way, as if all people conformed to them, and undoubtedly 
he is influenced more or less in his own thought and conduct 
by some of these expressions; but, after all, he connects 
them mostly with the particular individuals who have spoken 
of them to him. He does not really feel that the majority 
of the people in the community indorse them, as he will 
come to feel when he has had vital contact with many per- 



RECOGNITION OF PUBLIC OPINION 51 

sons in such relations that he will see the principles are 
generally observed. 

A further word should be said regarding the method of 
gaining a feeling for general or public opinion. The majority 
of the people H. (as a type) knows, at least those with 
whom she has vital experiences, have quite similar attitudes 
respecting the Tightness or wrongness of specific kinds of 
behavior in which she is interested ; that is, they will sev- 
erally respond in substantially the same way when certain 
acts are performed in their presence. Inevitably, then, H. 
acquires the feeling that persons in general assume the atti- 
tudes which this particular group does. So far as her present 
experience is concerned there are few if any exceptions to 
give rise to doubt, or to restrain action in the direction ad- 
vised by this group ; though, of course, as she comes into 
give-and-take relations with persons who have different ex- 
periences from her own, she will need constantly to revise 
her views in respect to much that she believes implicitly 
now. 

It is apparent that an appreciation of community opinion, 
in the generally accepted sense, is developed only very grad- 
ually, following upon extensive and intimate experience 
with persons. For the young child, who has had close rela- 
tions with those only in his own home, there can be no 
response to public sentiment ; and it is without doubt true 
that an adult whose range of personal contact has been very 
limited may have no feeling for public opinion in any large 
way. When an individual has significant relations with only 
a few associates, and these differ to some extent in their 
views and practices, the individuality of each remains more 
or less distinct in his social consciousness. There can be no 
adequate recognition of a general or public opinion in such 
a case, only the opinions of John, Henry, and the others as 
separate personalities. The principle is that as one becomes 
more and more cosmopolitan, individuals as such normally 
tend to lose their influence as arbiters of his conduct; 



52 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

they slowly but surely merge into a feeling of the attitudes 
of the community as a whole ; and ultimately, if one's range 
of experience continues to increase, he gains a sense of the 
fundamental attitudes of the times in which he lives. In due 
course, and upon multiplication of social experiences, this 
feeling comes to constitute one's criterion of what is per- 
missible in social relationships. It is obvious, though, that 
the opinions of unusually impressive personalities, whatever 
may be the reason for their impressiveness, tend to retain an 
independent place in the social consciousness ; they are kept 
from merging with the crowd because of their exceptional 
importance. This is precisely the case, as these pages are 
being written, with the personality of Theodore Roosevelt. 
He is probably the most potent force to-day in the lives of 
many young men, though he only exhibits in an impressive 
way the general trend of contemporary public opinion in 
respect to political conduct, sport, and the like. 

In passing, it may be said that, in the training of the 
young, we often strive to make the views and teachings of 
great men stand out clearly from the general sentiment of 
their age, or perhaps in illustration of this sentiment, be- 
cause we wish our youth to take these men as models. 
When a boy is tempted to tell a lie, for instance, we wish 
him to be forcibly reminded of the action of George Wash- 
ington, and to be restrained from doing what his hero would 
condemn. In like manner, we exalt other personalities ex- 
hibiting in a marked way the virtues of honor, patriotism, 
industry, frugality, kindness, charity, bravery, etc., in the 
hope that they will live in the consciousness of our pupils, 
and act as counselors in times of need. 

The child very early shows a marked tendency to commune with 

people. Probably the majority of his communications — though not all 

of them — have for their object to gain the sympathy and 

^^'^ approval of those about him, or to cause his rivals or tor- 
mentors to be held in check or chastised. At first everything of inter- 
est to him is communicated; but with the development of reflection 
only such matters are communized as will produce reactions favorable 



R^SUM^ 63 

to himself or unfavorable to his rivals or enemies. With adolescence 
the boy — and the girl to a less degree — grows less demonstrative in 
his expression; he begins to experience something of the feelings of 
the hero or the martyr. 

Children are insistent in having prohibitions, and to some extent 
privileges, affecting them made universal, particularly in respect to 
their associates. The five-year-old is chiefly concerned with securing 
social recognition of, and reaction upon, his exhibitions in running, 
climbing, throwing, constructing, and the like. At ten the girl com- 
municates mainly her experiences in cooperation with her associates in 
games and plays, while the boy dwells more largely on his accomplish- 
ments in muscular competition with his companions. At adolescence 
the boycommunizes everything pertaining to his own or his associates' 
triumphs, — intellectual, social, physical, but principally the last; while 
the girl is concerned mainly with the social, sesthetic, and intellectual 
demands for success in her relations with people. 

With the advent of the adolescent period, much of the talk of both 
boys and girls concerns the social relation of the sexes, and they give 
wide publicity to all evidence of attachment between a boy and a girl. 
As maturity is approached, personal achievements play a decreasing 
role in the individual's expressions; his communications relate largely 
to the social bearing'of the conduct of associates, and to their successes 
socially, politically, and professionally. Marked instances coming 
within his attention of foul or fair play, according to his view, to- 
gether with his comments thereupon, are published on every favorable 
occasion. 

The majority of persons remain in this stage of social evolution, but 
some continue developing until their communications relate wholly to 
their special fields of activity. These latter persons are, however, as 
eager to give to the world any new fact or principle they may discern 
as is the child in the nursery to publish his discoveries. These special- 
ists are in some cases ill at ease in a drawing-room, say; the concerns 
of their chosen fields take such complete possession of them that they 
become indifferent to gossip about the common interests of daily life 
which occupy the attention of a promiscuous group of persons. 

Timidity is doubtless the cause of most apparent reticence in child- 
hood. This reticent attitude may not be manifested toward all people, 
or on all occasions. It is probably very seldom that one finds a really 
non-communicative individual in respect to all persons and matters 
whatsoever. 

Through this communizing activity of the individual, society profits 
by his experiences, while he in turn, through the reactions of the people 
in his environment, learns to adjust himself to his social surroundings. 
The child expresses himself largely for the purpose of learning what 
behavior, in any given situation, will result most advantageously in 



54 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

respect to his welfare. The adult expresses himself more for the pur- 
pose of enforcing his own conceptions and making them universal in 
effect. The child can more readily adjust himself to new standards, 
while the adult ceases in large part to be plastic. However, there are 
in every community " searchers after truth," who, though mature, are 
" open to conviction," and who easily adapt themselves to the beliefs 
and practices of others. 

Sometimes social groups fail to enforce upon a member prevailing 
standards of conduct. " Gangs " often encourage in one of their num- 
ber what is condemned in home and school. The young child is not 
markedly studious of the attitudes of the people about him toward all 
his actions; but he tends to follow his own inclinations, except when 
they very plainly lead him into trouble. At times every child deliber- 
ately runs counter to the express wishes of his associates, in order that 
he may hector them, or gain distinction by being marked as a non- 
conformist. Sometimes the adolescent, craving distinction and not 
being able to attain it in any other way, purposefully draws upon him- 
self ridicule; though this is decidedly exceptional. 

The child, and the adult to an even greater extent, are always 
acting in the presence of persons, real or imaginary. As maturity 
is approached, distinct personalities, arbiters of conduct and focal in 
consciousness in childhood, become condensed into general or public 
feeling of approval, indifference, or condemnation of conduct. The 
recognition of, and response to, public sentiment increases with devel- 
opment. Children at the outset act in accord with the felt desire of 
particular individuals, such as father, mother, or teacher. 

With enlarging social experience the child gains a more or less clear 
idea of the attitudes of people in general toward social questions of 
interest to him. Through the similar reaction of different persons as 
arbiters of conduct, individuals merge into a feeling of the sentiment of 
the community or the times. Unusually impressive personalities may, 
however, retain an independent place in the social consciousness of 
the individual, and play a more prominent part than public opinion 
in his reactions. 



CHAPTER III 

DUTY 

It is a matter of common observation that the infant reveals 
no awareness of an alter, whose interests should be consid- 
ered in determining his behavior. Attitudes and ^^genoo 
activities which will secure him food and relief from of the senti- 
distress may be freely performed ; and for a num- obligation 
ber of weeks, eight or ten at the least, he takes ^*^*^<»y 
into account no other considerations in controlling his ac- 
tions.* When he is inclined to squall, either in protest or 
in supplication, he does so without self-restraint ; one can 
discover no evidence that he has any realization of the neces- 
sity or the desirability of checking himself because of the 
feelings or wishes of others.^ From his standpoint there 
is nothing, either personal or material, in his environment 
the well- or ill-being of which should be duly considered in 
determining his behavior.^ Of course, most of the acts he 

^ " For some time after birth the child is little more than an incarnation 
of appetite, which knows no restraint, and only yields to the undermining 
force of satiety." (Sully, op. cit. p. 231.) 

Perez writes to the same effect {op. cit. p. 290) : " If then we wish to under- 
stand the meaning of the actions of little children, and to direct their wills 
in a useful and progressive manner, we must bear in mind that aU their 
tendencies, whatever they may be, begin and end with egoism." 

^ A. J. H. sends the following observation, which he thinks illustrates a 
well-nigh universal tendency in childhood : — 

" My little son is very fond of picture books, and enjoys having me show 
them to him. Often I have n't time to attend to him, and I try by all manner 
of means to show him that I cannot possibly comply with his wishes ; but 
he shows no regard for anything or anybody except to have others attend to 
his pleasures. He will try to pull me out of my chair down upon the rug by 
main force, and he insists that his pleasure be attended to, and at once. He 
cannot tolerate delay, but teases, pulls, cries, yells until he gets what he 
desires." 

^ If the reader has not made observations relating to this matter he 
should listen to an infant's vocal demonstrations, and note the expressions of 
his features and his bodily attitudes, and it will be seen that he has not the 



56 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

performs suggest an instinctive appreciation, at any rate, of 
personal environment to be dealt with in some way and for 
some end ; but the principle is that at the outset this end is 
concerned solely with self -gratification, without any concern 
for the effect of his actions upon the alter, except as the 
latter can serve him in his need. The alter' s interests and 
needs and evaluations of things are completely ignored. 

As we follow the individual in his development, we can 
observe, by the twelfth week possibly, the beginning of what 
oriEinoitho ™a,y be regarded as a conscious realization of cer- 
ideaoiper- tain differences between people and mere things, 
tinguished such as his bottle, his cradle, and the like.^ This 
from tilings ^gaJization is indicated by the peculiar pleasure 
which is manifested in personal association, as portrayed 
especially in his smile and in his characteristic vocal ex- 
pressions. But here at the dawning of the sense of an alter 
there is no evidence that the child has even a suspicion that 
the former experiences discomforts or pleasures resembling 
his own. He does nothing whatever, either positively or 
negatively, to heighten the one or lessen the other. The ad- 
vent of the alter into his consciousness has not yet modified 
his conduct in the least, except to make him more demon- 
strative in the effort to gratify his own wants. Indeed, there 
is yet no alter in the true sense. There are simply special 
sorts of objects that afford a peculiar kind of pleasure. 
These objects do not experience pains and pleasures, as the 
self does, nor hunger, fear, or fatigue, nor suffer from cold 
or uncomfortable clothing and the like. They are simply to 
be used and enjoyed, not to be ministered unto, or to be 
sacrificed for, or to be made either glad or sad. In short, 
there are no other selves like the ego-self ; the latter is the 
sole thing in the universe that has needs, for the gratifica- 
tion of which the whole world exists. Not until the indi- 

slightest regard for anything but his own discomforts, and the means of 
relieving them. 

1 This point is discussed in some detail in the author's Linguistic Develop- 
ment and Education, chap. i. 



PERSONS DISTINGUISHED FROM THINGS 57 

vidual begins to interpret others on the basis of his own ex- 
perience will he acquire a genuine alter sense. In the first 
stage of development the alter is simply a thing of a peculiar 
character, not a person as this term should be understood. 
Thus ill-equipped does the child come into a world of social 
objects and values. 

But passing over, for the moment, several months of 
lesson-taking in social appreciation, we find that by the end 
of the first year the child seems on certain occasions to re- 
strain his teasing or crying, to mention a typical form of 
early inhibition. These occasions always have direct social 
connections of some sort. Usually the mother, governess, or 
father reacts in a particular manner upon the child's ex- 
pressions, and this incites inhibitory effort. So, too, at this 
time the child will go a little way at least in sharing his 
candy and playthings with the members of the family ; ^ 
while at the sixth month he did not show the slightest dis- 
position to do this. Jumping forward to his second birth- 
day, we see that, even when he is alone, he will under certain 

^ A correspondent gives a number of illustrations of his child's first " al- 
truistic " or " ethical " actions, of which the following are typical : — 

" My little son is a little more than two years old. A playmate frequently 
comes in to play with him. When his mother or father is in the room and 
shows approval of his unselfishness, he is willing to share his playthings, but 
as soon as no older person is in the room, he snatches his things away again. 
When alone he pushes his little playmate off the chairs, saying, ' baby chair' 
or ' papa chair.' Whenever any older person is about, he always looks for an 
approving word or smile, when he condescends to share any of his posses- 
sions. 

" At other times I have observed him to become suddenly lavish in his 
generosity, and allow the little girl to have nearly all of his playthings, and 
especially his favorite ones. Each time I have observed him suddenly to 
change his mind, it seemed, and grab his things away again. He seems to be 
ethical by fits and starts. 

" When my little boy was about a year old, I would thank him for any- 
thing he would do on my request. I might ask him for some of his grapes, 
and after he had given me one and saw me smile and nod approval, he would 
give me another and pause for the usual reaction. This he might continue to 
do until all of his candy or grapes were gone. Then he might cry for them 
again. The above and other observations have convinced me that children 
are only apparently ethical, i. e., they consider the alter only because the 
reward is greater than the sacrifice that is necessary in order to do so." 



58 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

conditions refrain from touching objects, say, that he has 

been instructed (we shall presently see what is implied in 

this term) not to disturb ; whereas, during his first year, 

such instruction would exert no influence upon his conduct 

a few moments after it was given. He will now apparently 

make an effort to control his impulse to interrupt his mother 

when she is talking ; he will strive to keep his food from 

falling on the floor, because of his having been urged to do 

so by some person ; and these are but typical examples of 

many simple social actions which may be observed at this 

stage of development. These are mentioned in this place 

merely as illustrations of the awakening in the child of an 

awareness that he should control his conduct with reference 

to the commands, or needs, or wishes of the people about 

him. We catch him here at the very birth, perhaps, of his 

sense, in its crudest, most elemental form, of oughtness, of 

duty, and it may be of ethical feeling. 

How, then, does the child come to differentiate in his 

consciousness persons from things, and endow the former 

with the true characters of personality? Possibly 
The genesis , . ■, ■, n i n • -^ i- i 

of the alter what might DC Called reflex imitation plays a part, 

^^'^^^ as when the child smiles and " coos " in response 

to his mother's salutations ; but imitation of this kind does 

not play the principal role. The reactions of the alter upon 

the child's expressions furnish him his most important data 

for gaining the notion that the alter is like his own self. It 

is, of course, relatively late in the child's development before 

he reaches any generalization regarding the alter'' s feelings. 

In the early stages of learning the child simply notes how 

the alter reacts upon the situations in which he is placed, 

and the former begins to construct his idea of the latter on 

the bases of these reactions. Thus the alter is a thing that 

acts in particular ways in response to his own expressions ; 

and the young child is quite indifferent to all the activities 

of the alter except those that directly affect him for good 

or ill. The alter is not a thing that feels so and so, as he 

does himself. 



GENESIS OF THE ALTER SENSE 59 

Watch the infant as he develops both positive and 
negative social attitudes, following precisely the lines marked 
out by the reactions of the people about him. Here is a 
child whose parents, nurse, brothers, and sisters never react 
positively to his disadvantage when he grabs sugar lumps 
at the table, say, though they may looh pained. But the 
infant takes no cognizance of looks. However, when these 
people react in a dynamic way to his discomfort, then he 
takes notice. This shows him what he can expect from these 
people, and later he may assign appropriate feelings to 
them on an occasion of this sort. But the point is, that he 
must first experience their positive reactions before he can 
get started in assigning to them personal qualities. A study 
of the child does not yield evidence to the effect that, 
through imitation alone, he would make progress in differ- 
entiating persons from things. Take, for instance, his 
imitation of his mother's look of disapproval in certain 
situations. One may see children who mimic the mother in 
this, and they have apparently no appreciation of what it 
signifies, because it has not acquired meaning through having 
been directly associated with more dynamic and therefore 
more effective attitudes on her part. The individual who 
knows what the disapproving countenance really imports is 
the one who has himself had painful experiences when he 
has seen the countenance in the past ; or he may have seen 
his fellows who have been the cause of it suffer on account 
of it. And this instance is typical of many others that 
might be mentioned. 

Speaking generally, then, expression in the alter serves 
to remind the child of what the former has done in the past, 
and so it is understood. But without doubt there are cer- 
tain expressions, as crying and laughter, that are understood 
as a matter of instinctive appreciation by the child. Many 
observers have noticed that children will respond sympathet- 
ically to laughter, and be overcome when they see another 
crying, even though they have not progressed very far in 



60 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

their imitative activities. It is probable that this aids the 
child in gaining a " consciousness of kind," though it does 
not serve in the beginning to differentiate very clearly per- 
sons from animals, as the pet dog or kitten. Indeed, it 
seems evident that for many months the child's pets are 
regarded as of his kind. He conducts himself toward them 
much as he does toward the people about him. He talks to 
them, laughs at, and, as he seems to think, with them ; he 
plays with them, and sobs if they are hurt and cry out with 
pain. As he develops he gradually grows away from the 
animals, in the sense that, as his range of action and ex- 
pression widens, he notices that his pets cannot respond to 
him in kind. At the same time he finds himself responding 
ever more completely to the people about him ; and in con- 
sequence they are selected, out of all the objects environing 
him, as of his kind. They are the only objects that can 
reciprocate his increasing complexity of expression, not only 
through language, but also through facial expression, laugh- 
ter, and the like. And, parallel with this development, there 
goes on a constantly increasing complexity in both the posi- 
tive and the negative reaction of persons upon the individ- 
ual's actions, so that by the fifth year, say, people must be 
considered in his activities more than any or all the other 
objects in his environment combined. At every turn he finds 
a person forbidding, or encouraging and rewarding; and 
all this experience serves to differentiate people completely 
from objects. 

The point will bear repetition, that the experiences which 
at the outset enable the child to differentiate the alter 
J, from things in general, and endow him with the 

experiences qualities of self hood, are those in which the former 
the alter is by the latter rewarded in some manner for actions 
sense \\\2it please him, or punished for actions that dis- 

please him. When the child shares his goods with his fellows 
he is repaid richly in his mother's approval, manifested in 
various concrete ways, alike in deed and in word ; and he 



GENESIS OF THE ALTER SENSE 61 

also receives gifts and pleasing expressions from those with 
whom he has shared. People uniformly exert themselves to 
make the child feel happy when he shows " thoughtful " 
tendencies, even though any specific act may be, as it usu- 
ally is, of no consequence to those ajffected by it. For the 
child from six months on there are always words of com- 
mendation and often marked demonstrations when he is 
generous, and return gifts or kindly expressions, with ac- 
companying reasons therefor, impressing a principle, — ' ' You 
were so good to me," etc., or " Whenever my little boy is 
kind and thoughtful," and so on at any length. The prin- 
ciple involved holds fully, in its negative application, for the 
child's " egoistic " action. Normally, the social environment 
expresses its disapproval in ways the child can appreciate, 
when he is " thoughtless " or " selfish." To illustrate this 
last point : when he is " mean," the persons affected make 
him suffer for it ; his brothers and sisters tell him they will 
not share with him ; father, mother, and teacher make him 
feel unhappy through " scolding " him, or shaming, or avoid- 
ing him ; or in some way they cause him to feel that un- 
happy results have followed his action. Again, when he 
cries his mother may refuse him his food, or she may show 
disapproval in her face or voice or manner, or, in the last 
resort, she may whip him. In some way she makes him 
realize that crying is not acceptable ; and this, as a typical 
experience, gives him data for determining the propriety of 
such action. 

While the individual is taking his first lessons in social 
conduct, the parents and teachers freely point him to people 
who are " altruistic," and they praise these, and try in every 
way to make their lot seem a most desirable one. Thus 
in time it is normally made obvious to the novice in social 
behavior — and without doubt his natural endowment aids 
him to some extent in attaining this realization — that he 
can as a rule get more pleasure from what turns out to be 
(though he does not yet know the difference) a generous 



62 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

rather than a selfish act. While he is learning this lesson, 
one can observe the struggle taking place between an origi- 
nal, self-gratifying tendency and a not-yet- very-clearly-felt or 
definitely-established social one. At this moment one sort 
of action, the purely selfish, may gain the right of way ; and 
at the next another sort, the generous, may become supreme. 
The principle is that, taken as a whole, the child's experi- 
ences with the people about him tend to make what is 
denoted by the term " altruistic action " seem to him best 
suited to promote his interests ; although, it must be re- 
peated, from his standpoint there is not yet either egoistic 
or altruistic conduct as we understand the terms. There are 
simply actions, some of which he is beginning dimly to dis- 
cern turn out well, and are performed by people generally, 
while others turn out poorly, and are as generally avoided.^ 
For a number of months the child's experience with people 
consists mainly in discovering that they will reward him for 
Develop- certain of his actions and punish him (in some 
SSohment manner) for others. But as he develops, it hap- 

oi the con- pens that he and his mother, father, and others 
ceptlonof ^ ■ . 1 •. ,• 

the alter come to rcact upon the same typical situations, 

and in the same general manner, with substantially the 

same outcome in all cases. For example, the pet dog pre- 

^ Kirkpatrick {op. cit. p. 181) summarizes the matter in this way : " The 
individual in society learns that certain actions are undesirable, because they 
result in other persons performing acts that are unpleasant to him. Out of 
such experiences grow the laws governing society. The child finds that some 
instinctive acts are more pleasurable than others, or that one kind of act 
interferes with another, and thus learns to regulate his conduct. He is also 
impressed less directly with their undesirability by the attitude of other 
people. The child is at first neither moral nor immoral, but unmoral. He is 
acting according to his natural instincts when biting and striking his mother, 
as much as when he is hugging and kissing her, and no more. In both cases 
he acts as his instincts and feelings prompt, and to him one act is just as good 
as the other. Experience, however, soon teaches him that one kind of act 
brings pleasant results in the way of approbation and favor, while the other 
brings him disapprobation and perhaps punishment. He thus learns that 
some acts are better than others. ' Better,' however, means to him merely 
more pleasurable in results to himself, not morally better, for of that he has 
no conception." 



THE CONCEPTION OF THE ALTER 63 

sents many situations upon which the child reacts, sometimes 
happily, at other times unhappily ; sometimes approvingly, 
and at other times disapprovingly; and the father, mother, 
and others usually react in a similar manner in any given 
instance. They laugh when the child does, they appear to 
cry when he does, they show anger with the child at the 
dog's behavior, and so on ad libitum. This process is nor- 
mally going on all the time in the development of the child, 
from the eighth or ninth month forward. In this the parent 
generally simulates the attitudes and expressions of the child, 
and the latter inevitably comes to expect that the alter will 
usually react as he does. One will be impressed with this 
if he will follow the ordinary child during his third year, 
say, and note how he must unlearn much that he learned 
in his first year regarding the parents' attitudes toward his 
pets, his brothers and sisters, and so on. Of course, if the 
parent never simulates an attitude "in sympathy" with the 
child, the latter will not suffer disillusionment later ; but at 
the same time he will not so readily come to feel that the 
parent is of his kind. It is for this reason that the child 
normally grows more rapidly with his mother than with his 
father in acquiring the consciousness of kind ; the former 
is more " sympathetic " than the latter, and the child learns 
readily to expect from her reactions like his own. If the 
child were placed only with persons who never reacted as 
he did in any situation, he would continue for a much longer 
period than he usually does in regarding persons as things 
without traits like himself. It is community of action that 
leads him to feel similarity in characteristics ; or, in other 
words, that enables him to view the alter as he views the 
self, and assign to him the feelings and attitudes which he 
himself experiences. 

We have been using the expressions "like himself," 
" like his own," and so on ; but the child does not, by the 
end of the first year, have any content for " own " in a true 
sense. It seems rather superfluous to say that " self " as it 



64 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

appears to the reflective person does not exist for the child. 
The latter acts as a self long before he has an idea of self. 
His learning (which is a conscious process) in the early 
months does not relate to self, as some philosophers have 
urged, but it concerns the alter solely. The child evidently 
regards his own attitudes and states as objective in the same 
sense that he regards the attitudes of others as objective. 
Not until he enters the reflective epoch does he form a notion 
of self as differentiated from all else.^ For example, K. at 
the age of one, S. at four, and V. at seven, show no evidence 
of possessing any idea of a self, of a self-conscious self, though 
the last two at any rate can and do use the term " self," 
and they show in their actions that they have a knowledge 
of the relations of the self to the alter in many of the situa- 
tions of life. Without question, much of what an onlooker 
might think denoted an explicit knowledge of self in the 
child's action, might be wholly instinctive ; consciousness 
at the moment might really be objective in content, as op- 
posed to what is implied in the popular signification of the 
term " subjective." Self for the child is a body of predomi- 
nantly instinctive attitudes and tendencies ; it is not at all 
a matter of focal awareness. 

At this point we must inquire how it is that the indi- 

1 The following observations may be cited at this point. Mr. B. says : 
" Last spring at the closing exercises given by the pupils of the model school, 
I had an opportunity of observing the behavior of children, from the kinder- 
garten to the eighth grade, before a group of people. The children of the 
lower grades up till about the fifth invariably showed not the slightest trace 
of embarrassment. This was by no means so true of the sixth, seventh, and 
eighth grade pupils, or those old enough ordinarily to be in those grades. 
I noticed that the children who gave a Christmas entertainment last year in 
my home town behaved in a similar manner. 

H. J. W. gives this testimony : " My mother used to have me as a child 
say before visitors my prayers that she had taught me, to show how many I 
knew. I delighted in this at first, and said my lines very loudly and boldly ; 
but after the seventh or eighth year I would shrink and cringe, and 
mother would have to urge me very firmly before I would consent. I fre- 
quently forgot my well-learned lines, which I could repeat glibly at other 
times, when alone or in the presence of nobody outside the family. This 
change seemed to come over me rather suddenly." 



INTERPRETATION OF EXPRESSIONS 65 

vidual learns the meaning of the attitudes of the alter. The 
argument thus far has proceeded from theconcep- interpreta- 
tion that the child's ethical development depends ^°^J^^ ex*, 
mainly upon the character of the reactions of the pressions 
alter upon his expressions. What arouses hostile reactions 
in the alter must as a rule be abandoned, while what pleases 
him may be freely performed. But how can the individual 
tell when the alter is pleased, or otherwise ? Baldwin has 
indicated one answer to this question. The child, he says, 
early " ejects " his feelings, and ascribes them to the alter ; 
or, in other words, he interprets what he finds in the alter 
in terms of his own experience under similar circumstances. 
When he sees the mother laughing he concludes, in his 
naive manner of course, that she feels as he does when he 
laughs. So he is constantly acting on the assumption that 
he can determine the alter^s feelings from his expressions, 
on the basis of the relation between any particular feeling 
of his own and its characteristic expression. But this answer 
can be at best only partially true. For one thing, it should 
be recognized that there is an instinctive factor operating 
in the child's " reading " the expressions of the alter. The 
infant can " read " the mother's face and voice before he 
has entered the " ejective " period. He reacts appropriately 
to the expressions of good-will and of anger before he has 
himself expressed these states. So, too, he seems instinct- 
ively to feel more or less completely the meaning of sob- 
bing, as indeed the pet dog does, for it will show evidence 
of distress, or at least of disturbance, when it is in the pre- 
sence of one weeping. It is probable that the individual 
comes among us equipped to respond with some measure of 
appropriateness to the fundamental types of emotional ex- 
pression, even before he feels the emotions himself; and 
often this inherited responsiveness extends to rather com- 
plicated and subtle expressions. X. at the age of one and 
one half years evidently feels the meaning, in a general way 
only of course, of even slight modifications in the featural 



66 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

expression of her mother. S. at seven is much keener in 
noting changes in expression ; he is certain to detect in those 
near to him any display of sombreness or gloom or disap- 
proval. It is not probable that in this responsiveness he is 
interpreting in the light of his own experience solely, for he 
has not had experience of just the sort he reacts to in the 
alter. In a sense the more fundamental types of expression 
have meaning, and produce responses in the child, on the 
same principle as the burning candle does ; a definite ten- 
dency to appraisement and reaction in both cases is provided 
for at birth, and it functions when the appropriate occasion 
is presented. 

It is not apparent why the child should not learn the 
meaning of expression as he does anything else, by relating 
it to its accompaniments as well as to its antecedents and 
consequents. When he sees a smiling face, say, and his 
mother at the same moment gives him pleasure in one way 
or another, he easily comes to expect pleasure when he de- 
tects this expression; and in all his reactions, and in his 
imagery, so far as he has any, he associates smiling faces 
with certain consequents that we designate as generous, 
kindly treatment. In due course he will acquire the terms 
that denote the meaning of this particular attitude, — kindly, 
good-natured, happy, friendly, and the like, — but they all 
go back to his early experience in associating a certain ex- 
pression with a characteristic outcome in terms of his own 
pleasure and pain. It is really not necessary, in order that 
the child should react appropriately to the alter, that he 
should be able to image the feelings that lie back of the 
alter'' s expressions; and while the terms used by the adult 
in denoting expression do refer apparently to emotional 
states, still for the child they indicate solely positive atti- 
tudes in the alter. 

When V. hears me speak of a certain woman as a 
" sour " person, he interprets the word in terms of the way 
she treats him, and also, though not so prominently, in 



INTERPRETATION OP EXPRESSIONS 67 

terms of the expression on her face. He does not now, as a 
matter of fact, conceive of certain emotional states as the 
basis of his own feeling and expression. He interprets all 
the terms he hears descriptive of disposition or character, 
or, in general, of emotion, in terms of his experience with 
the persons involved, just as he would interpret the term 
" ugly," say, if it were used to describe a dog which had 
bitten him. We can easily believe that an individual 
equipped with the child's intellectual outfit, but lacking ex- 
pression altogether, could still learn in the manner indicated 
the meaning of the grosser forms at least of expression in 
the alter y as well as in animals. At the same time it is obvious 
that, given a creature which feels and expresses and "ejects" 
his experience into things like himself, he will all the more 
readily discover the meaning of expressions similar to his 
own in the creatures with which he has experience. 

Unquestionably, then, as the child develops, he tends to 
interpret the meaning of attitudes in others on the basis of 
similar attitudes in himself, and to the alter he normally 
ascribes, ever more largely with development, the feelings 
which he himself experiences. As a result of this tendency, 
by the time he reaches maturity he becomes in a manner 
the measure of all things. This does not seem to involve 
any peculiar psychological process, nor does it introduce 
any new psychological principle. When the child becomes 
acquainted with the traits of his own dog, he tends to ascribe 
its characteristics to every dog at all resembling his own ; 
and this law is universal in its application. Now, is it not 
reasonable to say that as the child matures his consciousness, 
so far as it is personal, becomes filled ever more largely 
with his own experience and attitudes, which he has learned 
as he learns everything else ; and that he then ascribes to 
objects like himself the qualities and feelings which he finds 
in this object he knows most about ? In this law-abiding 
way he must come gradually to give the alter some such 
an outfit of feelings, needs, and desires as he finds in him- 



68 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

self; it is inevitable that he should do this. Yet it should 
be recognized that the individual usually, if not always, favors 
himself in his attitudes toward the alter; that is, the needs 
of the alter are not usually seen to be quite as pressing as 
his own in similar situations, — his pains are not as severe, 
his bravery is not as marked, his selfishness is greater, and 
so on ad libitum. It is a rare child who can evaluate the 
experience of a comrade, especially when the two are brought 
into competitive relations, exactly as he evaluates his own 
experience under approximately identical conditions. Such 
a thing is never seen in infancy, when the alter is a thing to 
be adjusted to and used for the advantage of self ; the in- 
terests of the ego give a special importance to the experiences 
of self as compared with the alter. 

This will, perhaps, be the best place in which to take a 
glance at some popular notions regarding the relations of 
Popular the self and the alter in the typical situations of 
speottog"he social intercourse. In current psychological theory 

relation oj the two are, or tend to become, inseparably asso- 
the self and . ' . ' ^ , . . 

the alter ciatcd in all thought and action. However, this is 

more evidently true of the mature individual than of the 
child, as our previous discussion has indicated. It is prob- 
able that when the child is pounding his nursery floor with 
a hammer he is in only a very remote sort of way conscious 
of an alter; possibly his consciousness at the time may con- 
tain only things. It is true that in time even this act will 
be likely to acquire some personal connections, which will 
govern the individual in its performance ; but just now one 
would need to depend on faith in order to say that the alter 
entered into the process at all. If there are people looking 
on, the child may endeavor to attract their attention, but 
even so, his chief interest may have no personal reference. 
Surely we can take him early enough, when he is just be- 
ginning to grab at the bright objects in his cradle, or when 
he is making every effort to get food, and we can then see that 
the alter plays no role in determining his action. The grati- 



RELATION OF THE SELF AND THE ALTER 69 

fication of appetite at the outset does not, so far as the 
child's consciousness is concerned, involve the alter in any 
way. In time, though, every act of taking food will doubt- 
less gain some sort of personal associations, so that the alter 
will be in consciousness, focally or marginally, when food 
is eaten ; but this will be the result solely of associational 
experience. In the beginning of life the child's conscious- 
ness is concerned only with things to be used in some way ; 
but with development all the relations with these things 
come to be loaded with personal values. At every step 
upward, then, the alter comes normally to play a constantly 
increasing part in the thoughts, feelings, and attitudes of 
the self. 

The seers of every age have taught that we are members 
of one body, and if one prospers aU will be prospered, while 
if one suffers all will be afflicted. The likeness between the 
social and the biological organism in this respect was sug- 
gested long ago. In the human body there are various mem- 
bers related to one another in such a way that each attends to 
some special need, and the entire organism profits thereby. 
The more effectively any special organ performs its particu- 
lar task, the better it wiU be for the community as a whole. 
Its work is at once individualistic and socialistic, egoistic 
and altruistic. The eye must be eager to get from the 
environment everything that will gratify its own desires ; but 
the greater its success in this regard, the more completely 
will the needs of the entire organism be provided for. So, 
according to this view, egoism and altruism in the human 
body are complementary, and not antagonistic, in the out- 
come ; an organ cannot work for self without working for 
others at the same time. If it should deliberately set about 
to work for the alter, it would have to proceed in its own 
way, which would result in ministering to its own special 
needs. So, extending the argument to society, the interests 
of the individual and of the group are regarded as identical ; 
what is best for the one is best for the other ; there can be 



70 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

no genuine antagonism. It has remained for modern stu- 
dents of society and social development greatly to extend 
and perfect this notion of social solidarity, and to show how 
the interests of the self, and all its thoughts, feelings, and 
volitions, are bound up with those of the alter^ which seems 
to obliterate the old opposition between egoism and altru- 
ism. As Cooley states it, the ego is always acting for the 
approval of some alter^ so that there can never be such a 
thing as " selfishness " in the popular understanding of the 
term. 

This conception, which appears so attractive at first sight, 
is nevertheless only a partial truth. Keeping to the biologi- 
Arethein- ^^ illustration, it is a simple fact that, in the 
terests of nutrition of the body, a group of special ora^ans 
the alter ov a Single organ may under certain conditions 
Identical? gecm-g ^n undue share of nutriment at the expense 
of other organs. When the bodily community is prosperous ; 
when there is nutrition enough for all organs ; when there is 
no crisis to be met, there appears to be perfect cooperation 
and mutual sharing among all the organs. But when the crisis 
does come, there is apt to be struggle for survival among 
the organs. For example, when the energy is running low 
in the organism, the brain may make such demands upon 
the available supply that the muscles and the digestive sys- 
tem will suffer ; and the reverse may also be true. In dis- 
ease it is generally the case that some member of the bodily 
organism is not receiving adequate nourishment, because 
there is not enough for the entire community of organs, and 
some are greedy in appropriating more than of right belongs 
to them if the principle of identity of interests is regarded 
as the ruling one. Of course, in the end the greedy ones 
will be penalized for their sefishness, since the weak organs 
will lower the vitality of the body as a whole ; and ultimately 
total destruction will ensue. But temporarily an egoistic 
organ may act in hostility to the warfare of the alter, and 
be prospered on account of its cupidity ; and in the general 



RELATION OF THE SELF AND THE ALTER 71 

break-up at the end, certain organs live considerably longer 
than others, because they have an advantage in utilizing the 
energies of the organism. Happily, though, nature has so 
constituted things that, on the whole, there is such a rela- 
tion between the members of the bodily community that 
they can work together in prosperity for a long time as a 
unity. 

How is it now in the social body ? If one secures what he 
wishes for self, must it always be through ministering to 
the needs of the group of which he is a member ? If it is 
justifiable to use the terms egoism and altruism at all, 
should it be simply to describe the relative breadth of the 
individual's social interests ? Is the egoistic person merely 
one who works for the alter in a narrow and relatively non- 
vital way, — as when he spends his life in pursuit of gold 
he must serve others, but both his aim and his service are 
relatively low and of only temporary worth? On the other 
hand, is the altruistic individual one who works for self, 
but in doing this he must serve others in some really im- 
portant and enduring manner? It is claimed by some 
writers that the man who is generous, who cares for the sick 
and needy, who supports all meritorious enterprises, wiU 
receive the respect and gratitude of his fellows in return, 
and these are for him the most substantial and important 
of all possible rewards for his efforts. 

Looking at this matter from the developmental stand- 
point, it is impossible to see how any one could think there 
was no such quality as egoism in childhood, supposing egoism 
to denote undue or exclusive concern for self to the neglect 
or detriment of the alter. ^ What does a three months' old 
babe know or care about the alter ? How does he serve the 

1 The following from Cooley {op. cit. p. 92) may be noted in this connec- 
tion : — 

" Self and other do not exist as mutually exclusive facts, and phraseology 
which implies that they do, like the antithesis egoism versus altruism, is 
open to the objection of vagueness, if not of falsity." 

Again, p. 190: " The satisfaction, or whatever you choose to call it, that 



72 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

alter in obtaining what he wishes ? The service all goes one 
way ; it is all take and no give. And this continues for 
many months, and without educative influences of the kind 
described on preceding pages it would probably extend, in 
a subdued form at least, into maturity. For one who studies 
a child in his reactions upon the social environment, there 
can be no doubting the fact that in his own consciousness 
he is an egoist in the popular sense of the term ; and even 
viewed from without, it does not appear that he concerns 
himself with the needs or desires of the alter^ except as his 
own ends are thereby very obviously ministered to. He is 
constantly demanding service, not proposing equitable ex- 
change of services, as men must do in maturity, which com- 
pels the individual to give consideration to the desires of 
the alter. Moreover, young children do not utilize what 
they secure from one group of persons for the advantage of 
another group, in order to gain the good-will and esteem of 
this group, as the adult does. 

If now it be asked whether, in the child's activities, he 
ever seeks to do another good without reference to the ad- 

„ , vantasre to self, the answer will not be in accord 
Neutral » ' 

attitudes In With current theory touching this matter, as ex- 
pounded by certain psychologists. E. in her daily 
life at twelve performs good offices for her younger sister 
and brothers, which could not be regarded as egoistic, in 
the popular sense of the term, by any unprejudiced ob- 
server. For example, she gives up her reading to repair her 
sister's doll, even though she has not been asked to do so ; 
and she gains absolutely nothing from her altruistic act, 
except the happy expressions of the recipient of her favor. 

one gets when he prefers his duty to some other course is just as much his 
own as any pleasure he renounces." 

Still again, he says (p. 343) : " As a matter of fact, ego and alter, self 
and sympathy, are correlative, and always mingled in ethical judgments, 
which are not distinguished by having less self and more other in them, but 
by being a completer synthesis of all pertinent impulses. The characteristic 
of a sense of right is not ego or alter, individual or social, but mental unifica- 
tion, and the peculiar feelings that accompany it." 



NEUTRAL ATTITUDES IN CHILDREN 73 

She probably does not experience the pleasure of a " satis- 
fied conscience, " such as the adult does ; she is simply- 
moved by an impulse to serve, and she goes with the im- 
pulse. She expects no return, and there is no evidence that 
she is compensated in the way certain theorists maintain. 
She would serve any child as readily as her sister ; and she 
serves them in other ways than the one indicated. To be 
sure, such activities do not constitute a large part of her 
daily life ; nor, on the other hand, do the purely egoistic 
actions occupy a prominent place. She moves through the 
day, doing the tasks assigned her in school and at home 
without a definitely marked attitude, either egoistic or al- 
truistic. So far as her own consciousness is concerned, a 
large part of her attitudes are without doubt neutral, 
though viewed ah extra they apparently tend in one direc- 
tion or another. She does not deliberately plan to serve 
others, except when the spirit of giving is general about 
her, as at Christmas time, when she applies herself for 
weeks to making gifts for her companions. Neither does 
she plan in any purposeful way to add to her own pleasures ; 
she simply adjusts herself from moment to moment in any 
situation in which she may be placed so as to get the most 
out of it, according to the desires of the instant. If there 
be competition for pleasures, as in the use of books, or ap- 
paratus in the gymnasium, she ordinarily keeps what things 
she can get as long as she enjoys them, and if there be not 
too great protest ; but if her competitors make a disturb- 
ance, she may surrender to them as the best way to adjust 
matters. 

She is, however, always more ready to yield to the en- 
treaties, and even the bullying, of her sister, who is still a 
babe, than to her brothers, who are about her equals in 
most forms of competition. She appears to feel that the 
latter can care for themselves, and are ordinarily to be 
resisted in their aggressions; though she will not resist the 
aggressions of the former, which are more marked than in 



74 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

the case of the brothers. But the apparently helpless and 
needy, if they are at the same time not repulsive, seem to 
arouse the altruistic impulses far more readily than those 
who seem strong and capable,^ though it is a matter of 
feeling, not of reflection, certainly in the early years. 

As the individual develops through adolescence, it can be 
noted that a constantly larger proportion of his actions are re- 
moved from the neutral class. ^ As he grows in reflectiveness 
he becomes ever more conscious of the effect of his conduct 

^ The following instance given by A. S. (an adult) illustrates quite the 
opposite of this statement : — 

" I have been much interested recently in the observation of a child of 
fi\%. He is in matters of conduct rather poorly disciplined. In degree of un- 
selfishness I have seen few children his equal. However, this does n't appear 
to be a matter of training at all. Having few attractive characteristics, he is 
made little of by myself and a friend, and yet he almost never sees us but 
he insists on giving us something, if he has anything to give. I have rarely 
done him a favor, and only occasionally do I more than greet him. 

*' The other day he came through the dining-room where I was seated. In 
his hand he held a few small confections, given him by a friend. He offered 
me one, which I declined. He insisted, and I declined. Being seated at the 
opposite side of the table, he could n't reach me, so he called out, ' Here, 
you catch it,' which, however, I did not offer to do. Being called away by 
his mother, he laid the candy on the table beside some one, and said, ' You 
give it to her ! ' and departed. This all occurred very quietly in a moment of 
time, and I 'm sure his motive was not just to have his way in spite of my 
opposition. 

" On another occasion he entered the sitting-room chewing gum. ' How 
many pieces of gum did you get for five cents ? ' asked some one. ' Two 
packages,' was the reply. ' Give me a piece, please ! ' I remarked, not know- 
ing whether he had any left. Taking several pieces out of his pocket, he 
proceeded to distribute them indiscriminately about the room till the last 
piece was gone. 

" Again, seeing my friend across the street, he called out, ' Wait, Miss G., 
I'll give you some candy ! ' and he trudged over to give it to her." 

^ Kirkpatrick (op. cit. p. 124) says selfishness does not appear until youth 
is reached. Note the following : — 

" Youths are then for the first time genuinely selfish, since if a selfish act 
is done now it may be in opposition to an altruistic impulse, while before 
this it involved only a choice between immediate and remote pleasures to 
self. True selfishness emerges only when both the lower individualistic and 
the higher altruistic impulses are felt. The adolescent may therefore be the 
most selfish or the most self-sacrificing of beings, and is often each in turn." 

It will be apparent to the reader that Kirkpatrick uses the term selfish- 
ness in a very different sense from what it has been used thus far in our dis- 
cussion. 



NEUTRAL ATTITUDES IN CHILDHOOD 75 

upon his fortunes and destiny, and he is governed accord- 
ingly. At times he unquestionably brings self to the front, 
and deliberately works for its interests in ways in which he 
thinks these will be most effectively advanced. At other 
times he consciously strives for the good of his associ- 
ates ; though it is probable that in this striving he is more 
conscious than the child of twelve of the reward he will have 
in the good-will of the beneficiary and the esteem of the 
social group. Rewards of this sort do not make a deep im- 
pression upon the young child anyway. As the individual's 
foresight increases, as he is able to look ahead and note the 
consequences of his conduct, his actions, viewed from with- 
out, take on an increasingly altruistic character; but re- 
garded from within they would probably be found to be 
dictated in the interests of the self as well as the alter. 
The girl of twelve is to some extent spontaneously, or per- 
haps instinctively, altruistic at times ; whereas the girl of 
twenty may be much more altruistic in the extent and effect 
of her actions, but not any more so in her feeling. But even 
the latter is spontaneous in her altruism in some situations, 
mainly those of a maternal character, — sacrificing for the 
young, her own offspring predominantly, but not exclu- 
sively. What prompts the mother to serve when service in- 
volves suffering ? Her view probably does not extend much 
beyond the circumstances of the moment. Service is needed, 
and it will be given without price. Here the alter is the 
focus of all feeling and effort. There is probably an in- 
stinctive tendency which abides with the individual during 
life, and which causes him often to minister to the needs of 
others without asking whether he shall be duly compensated 
therefor ; though if we should search his being to its very 
depths, we might find at its bottom, far from the seat of 
conscious reasons and motives, an impulse to the effect that 
if he gives aid in times of distress, he may be cared for 
himself in his own hour of need. 

Without stopping for further analysis here, it may now 



76 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

be said that the child's sense of duty, so far as it is ac- 
quired, grows right out of his social experiences, 
the sense wherein he is made aware that it is of advantage 
oiduty. ^Q respect the rights of others, and to share his 
possessions with them, and help them when they are in 
need. In the begining, the mother's disapproval, revealed 
in a variety of concrete ways, was the principal spur to in- 
hibition ; and the child had actually to see her face in order 
that it should control him. However, in the course of ma- 
turing, as the imaging power develops, the mother can con- 
tinue to exert an influence over her child's conduct, even 
when she is far removed from him. She really lives in her 
boy's springs of conduct when he is tempted to perform the 
actions she has forbidden, or when he fails to perform those 
she has urged upon him. She is there in greater or less vivid- 
ness of detail, looking on, and approving or disapproving 
as she did in the flesh, and thus she directs him much as 
if she were really present to his senses. As development 
proceeds, the mother, in her concrete, distinct personality, 
gradually subsides, so to speak, and there is left only the 
appreciation of her general attitudes in the special sorts of 
situations in which she has determined the child's actions in 
the past. And what is true of the influence of the mother is 
equally true of every person who instructs the child regard- 
ing his social relationships, whether of set purpose or only 
incidentally, in the give-and-take of social intercourse or in 
books. 

If one should work out the natural history of any act 
subject to the control of conscience, or which incites the 
activity of conscience, he would find it conforming to this 
general type. There must first be very definite, concrete 
experience, — approving or disapproving persons, rewards 
or penalties, and so on. Then in time these may operate 
through imagination, as we say, with the result that the 
concrete factors are gradually eliminated, but their import 
is still felt. And, reinforced by impressions gained from 



GENESIS OF THE SENSE OF DUTY 77 

history, literature, art, religion, etc., this feeling or tendency- 
is sufficient to keep conduct in harmony with the forces 
which influenced it originally. Until ethical action in any 
situation becomes quite definitely established, the concrete 
personalities who initiated it tend to remain as foci of atten- 
tion, as it were, and so as counselors of behavior. It should 
be impressed that when these concrete personalities have 
receded to the margin of consciousness, the individual re- 
mains responsive to their influence. He feels he must act in 
the present as they encouraged him to act in similar situ- 
ations in the past. He feels disturbed, ill at ease, on the 
wrong track, if on any occasion he runs counter to his habit- 
ual action, or that enjoined upon him by those who have 
had a prominent place in his consciousness ; and ordinarily 
he will be restless until he comes back into line. Con- 
science, then, is active only when there is a felt lack of har- 
mony between the individual's present action and that which 
has been urged upon him in the manner which has been 
sketched above. As he develops and acquires a sense of the 
attitudes of people in general, rather than the individuals 
nearest him, he will gradually gain a feeling for certain 
kinds of ideal conduct, or that which is generally indorsed 
and taught by the people with whom he comes in contact, 
or by literature or biography or religion, but with which he 
is not in accord in his own conduct, in some respects at 
least. So long as he knowingly falls short of this ideal as he 
has come to conceive it, just so long will he experience 
some measure of strain and tension. But as soon as his 
action is brought into correspondence with his ideal, con- 
science will approve ; there will be a feeling of ease, of con- 
gruity, of satisfaction. And if his ideal can be realized with- 
out struggle, conscience will gradually cease to manifest 
itself at all ; there will be no further need for it to be 
active. 

Thus, as was suggested in a previous chapter, conscious- 
ness on the social side is a sort of theatre in which one's 



78 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

friends and acquaintances and the public in general, so far 
as it has become a matter of experience, whether in the con- 
crete or in literature or art, constitute the audience whose 
function it is to pass judgment upon the actor's perform- 
ances. Every deed is scrutinized by them, and one cannot 
escape praise or blame, except in respect to those activities 
that have often been appraised in the same way, and per- 
formed readily, so that they have become automatic. This 
it is that causes the child distress when he performs a 
" mean " act, even when he knows it will not be actually 
detected. These ideal spectators know of it, and they are 
condemning or shaming him, and he is not fit to be seen by 
his fellows. If a person should be so constructed (as idiots 
probably are) that consciousness could entertain no ideal 
personages who would commend or blame him for his con- 
duct, it is impossible to conceive that in such a case there 
would be any way for him to determine whether deeds were 
right or wrong, except by their concrete, immediately ex- 
perienced results. The right is, then, in the early years, at 
any rate, what one's models indorse ; the wrong is what 
they condemn. 

I use the term models in a broad sense. Some of Shake- 
speare's characters may be ray models in a very real and vital 
way. Plato and Aristotle, through their written expressions, 
may be living personages for me, and they may determine 
my conduct in some respects ; they may live in my con- 
sciousness in a real manner, and act as counselors in mo- 
ments of doubt. So the eminent men of all times, whose lives 
I am familiar with, and some of the great characters de- 
picted in fiction, as well as the persons now living whom I 
have met in vital relations, aU dwell within reach of my 
springs of action, and play a part in approving or disap- 
proving my conduct. Some stay close to the focus of con- 
sciousness, while others take up a position more remote ; 
but none of them are wholly lost. When I am perplexed, I 
try to discover how these persons would act under similar 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONSCIENCE 79 

circumstances, and when I see what they, or the majority of 
them, or the more important of them, would do, I see what 
I may do. 

Reference has already been made, though in an incidental 
way, to the part religion plays in presenting ideals of con- 
duct, and in enforcing upon the individual the ij,jiej5igoj 
necessity of conforming to these ideals in all his religion in 
actions. It would not be proper to attempt here ment of con- 
to discuss in detail the psychology and social value *°'®°°* 
of religious belief ; but there can be no objection to pointing 
out the effect of religious training upon the ethical, or, more 
broadly, the social attitudes of the child. The principle has 
been developed that the child early discovers, from his give- 
and-take experiences with people, that certain of his ex- 
pressions must be repressed, while others may be performed 
at will. In due course he generalizes his experience, to the 
effect that anti-social conduct, as determined by the reactions 
of the alter^ is "wrong," while that which advances the in- 
terests of the alter as well as those of self is " right." When 
the child begins to differentiate his actions on the basis 
of their social outcome, people must be actually present to 
his senses, and reprove him for non-permissible actions, and 
commend him, or at least not condemn him, for his good 
or right conduct. In the course of development, when the 
imaging activity, and especially the reflective tendency, begin 
to develop, the individual may feel the force of commenda- 
tion or censure for his behavior when no persons are present 
in the concrete. In due course, in normal development, the 
parent, the teacher, the playmate, and others come to function 
in the individual's conduct through the force of habit, in 
which there is an ideal factor, as of the parent forbidding 
or praising a given action, and a motor factor arising from 
the individual's action in the past. Further, through history, 
literature, art, and the Kke, the child constructs ideal con- 
ceptions of conduct, and these ideals play down more or 
less constantly upon all his actions. 



80 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

In religion the idealizing process acquires a prominence 
which it does not attain in any other phase of the child's 
experience. Definite ideal personages are presented, and 
impressed vividly upon the child's consciousness. Speaking 
generally, these religious personages are made to embody in 
their own conduct, and to require of all persons, the highest 
form of social action conceived by the people of any given 
time or place: These personages are made extraordinarily 
effective in influencing the individual's action by ascribing 
to them the qualities of omnipotence, omniscience, omnipre- 
sence, and the like, so that they are always aware of one's 
transgressions as well as one's faithfulness in the perform- 
ance of duty. Moreover, these religious personages are, in 
Christianity at any rate, perfectly just and righteous, so 
that just and righteous conduct in the individual will be 
fully appreciated and rewarded. Thus the child who has 
had religious instruction of the character indicated has an 
ever-present and very real stimulus to the performance of 
what he comes gradually to understand as ethical, moral, 
social conduct. Otherwise he is dependent solely upon the 
momentum he has gained from the reactions of his early 
trainers and associates upon his expressions. 

The young child is very realistic in his religious concep- 
tions. He readily accepts whatever is taught him regarding 
The real- the attitudes of religious personages toward him 
ao\w'lrf"' ^^ ^^^^ behavior ; though it should not be inferred 
the child's that catechetical instruction is always effective in 
conceptions this way. Of course, theological teaching cannot 
be grasped by the child, unless it is presented through the 
concrete deeds of definite personalities within his compre- 
hension. But that instruction which portrays religious per- 
sonages as perfect in conduct, their office being to reward 
good and punish wrong action in human beings, becomes 
potent in the child's life in dissuading him from certain 
forbidden acts, and coercing him in the performance of acts 
which he would neglect except for stimulus applied a pos- 



RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS 81 

teriorl. The religious instruction given children commonly 
emphasizes the conception that God is an omniscient and 
omnipotent lawgiver and judge, who will mete out justice 
to every individual, inflicting pain when he disobeys, and 
providing for his happiness when he acts in accord with 
the instructions which have been given him. Now, these 
instructions generally have in view the establishment of 
fundamental social attitudes in the individual. The Ten 
Commandments are rules which the individual must observe 
if he would adjust himself harmoniously to the group to 
which he belongs ; the group would be destroyed in time if 
these rules, most of them, were not followed by its members. 
So the Sermon on the Mount is a social code suited to the 
needs of a complex, peaceable society. In the same way most 
of the religious principles sought to be impressed upon 
children have the control of their relations toward their 
fellows solely in view. The instruction which aims to develop 
reverence for sacred personages and things, and the observ- 
ance of religious rites and ceremonies, has for its end to 
secure such an attitude of the individual toward religious 
things that they can continue to control him. If he is deeply 
impressed with the infinite wisdom and power of divine 
persons, they can exercise a commanding influence over him 
in restraining what he has been taught is wrong action, and 
enforcing what he has been taught is right conduct. Thus 
religious teachers often make a supreme effort to fill the 
child's consciousness with the idea of divinity as immea- 
surably intelligent and powerful, and they surround all 
religious objects and ceremonies with mystery, which in the 
early years, at any rate, is favorable to the development 
of attitudes of humility and obedience. 

But the instructors of the young commonly go far beyond 
the effort to develop in the child a consciousness of God as 
the ruler of the universe, and arbiter of right and wrong. 
They try to teach a vast number of specific facts regarding 
the nature of God, the characteristics of His place of abode, 



82 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

His associates in heaven, His method of administering jus- 
tice to the faithful and the sinners, the place of abode of 
those who offend the Divine Being, etc., etc. This instruc- 
tion becomes, then, an intellectual exercise, and as such it 
takes its place in the child's consciousness with other intel- 
lectual subjects, as history, science, and the like. The child 
regards his catechism as a thing to be learned the same as 
his arithmetic, and the one does not exert greater influence 
upon his conduct than the other. It is the common thing to 
see children driven to Sunday School to recite verbatim their 
lessons, which never touch the springs of conduct in any way. 
It will not be appropriate here to enter into detailed exami- 
nation of catechetical instruction ; but any reader can verify 
for himself the statement that nine tenths of all that is con- 
tained in the catechisms of any of the religious bodies among 
us that employ this method of instruction appeals solely to 
the intellect, and is for the child up until adolescence at least 
purely verbal. In the same way a large part of the work of 
the Sunday School as it exists among us is strictly intellect- 
ual, and it does not impress upon the learner the supreme 
conception of the glory and greatness and justice of God, and 
the certainty with which he administers social and moral 
laws. As a consequence, children instructed in this way do 
not gain from religion what it is really designed to afford 
them, so far as their social nature and needs are concerned. 
One may see children reciting every day in the catechism, 
or in lessons worked out on the plan of the Sunday School, 
who are not influenced in the slightest degree by what they 
learn. This is seen most strikingly in the public schools of 
Germany or England, where religious instruction constitutes 
a regular part of the work, or in the parochial schools of the 
countries like Italy, Spain, or Holland. 

The one needful thing in religious instruction, so far as 
it is intended to be of value in restraining and constraining 
the individual in his social relations, is that it should suffuse 
the child's consciousness with a feeling of the reality of God, 



and of liis infinite justice and wisdom and power, so that He 
can read the human heart, and reward or chastise the indi- 
vidual according as he has done right or wrong, as revealed 
in his own conscience. Any philosophic speculation about 
the personality of God, or His relation to the universe, tends 
to lessen His influence upon the child's conduct. In the same 
way, undue familiarity with religious objects or ceremonies 
tends to destroy that simple, elementary feeling which is 
alone potent in shaping conduct. Children brought up in the 
homes of ministers often come to look upon religious rites in 
a purely mechanical way.^ The sense of mystery is lost, and 
a feeling of commonplaceness supersedes it. In this way the 
influence for good of religious feeling is nullified. 

For the first eight or ten weeks the child is concerned solely with the 
interests of self. At about the twelfth week he begins to manifest plea- 
sure in personal association, as shown mainly in his smile and 
characteristic vocal demonstrations. But for the infant the 
alter does not have interests and needs like the self; there is nothing in 
his environment, either personal or material, the well or ill-being of 
which should be considered in determining his behavior. By the end of 
the first year the child may on occasion inhibit his teasing or crying, 
or share his candy or playthings in the presence and under the influence 
of parent or governess; but very little of this sort of thing can be ob- 
served during the early months. However, by the close of the second 
year the child manifests some sense of social obligation, as revealed in 
his effort to control his "evil" impulses and perform acts of positive 
social value. 

Through the dynamic reactions of the alter upon his expressions, the 
child learns slowly to differentiate persons from things, and to regard 
the former somewhat as he regards himself. Imitation alone does not 
suffice to secure this differentiation. Vital experience is necessary in 

^ Rev. J. H. K., a distinguished minister of the gospel, sends me the 
following testimony : " I am distressed over the attitude of my four children 
toward the religious offices of the house and the church. When they return 
from a prayer-meeting they may make fun of the prayers offered by mem- 
bers of the church, or they may complain at the length of the service or the 
tiresome character of the remarks they heard. When I officiate at a funeral, 
they almost always show interest only in the amount I received for my ser- 
vices. I have long felt that my children go through their prayers at home in 
a purely mechanical way, and they have the same attitude toward the church 
service. I do not know what to do with them." 



84 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

order that expression may acquire meaning. There are doubtless cer- 
tain expressions of the alter which are understood more or less instinct- 
ively by the child, and these aid him in gaining a " consciousness of 
kind." For a time the child regards his pets as of his kind, but he 
gradually grows away from animals because of their limited reactions 
upon his expressions. 

By the fifth year, through the positive and negative reactions of 
people, the child has learned to regard them in all his activities as 
different from things. Approval and disapproval, rewards and punish- 
ments very concretely given, enable the child gradually to differentiate 
his attitudes into two great classes, which later he will designate as 
egoistic and altruistic. Speaking generally, his experiences with people 
teach him that conduct altruistic in nature will promote his interests, 
while egoistic action will turn out badly for him. Community of interest 
and action leads the child in the course of time to view the alter much 
as he does himself, in respect to needs and deserts. 

The child acts as a self long before he has an idea of self in a reflect- 
ive sense. Self for the child is a body of instinctive attitudes and ten- 
dencies. With development he learns to interpret the meaning of atti- 
tudes in others on the basis of similar attitudes he has himself assumed. 
However, in his '* ejective tendencies " the individual usually favors the 
self as contrasted with the alter. 

Of the popular notions regarding the relation of the ega and the 
alter, the common-sense view considers egoism and altruism as diamet- 
rically opposed to one another, so that a person could not be egoistic 
and altruistic at one and the same time ; while according to another 
view they are simply phases of every social attitude the individual takes. 
Both these views are partial and so erroneous, at least so far as they 
relate to the developmental period of human life. A considerable pro- 
portion of a child's actions are neither egoistic nor altruistic. They do 
not have for their purpose the advancement of the interests of the ego 
as against those of the alter, or vice versa. As the individual develops 
through adolescence a constantly larger proportion of his actions is 
removed from the neutral class; and viewed from without they appear 
to become more and more altruistic, but regarded from within they 
may be seen to be dictated in the interests of the self as well as or even 
at the expense of those of the alter. There may be observed at every 
period in development genuinely altruistic actions in outcome, spring- 
ing probably from an instinctive tendency to help those in need. 

People differ in respect to the degree to which they strive to pro- 
mote the interests of self as opposed to those of the alter; and various 
types in this regard have always been recognized in popular philosophy. 

Action in the early years is usually unreflective, and is executed on 
the basis of expediency. In due course, however, the individual dis- 
cerns more or less clearly that certain kinds of conduct, positive as 



J 



R^SUM^ 85 

well as negative, must be required of all for the welfare of all. When 
he makes this discovery he is prepared to assimilate ethical instruction, 
which, combined with the influence of the hard knocks received in the 
give-and-take experiences of daily social adjustments, gradually estab- 
lishes the sense of right as opposed to wrong action. In the evolution of 
the sense of duty the child first realizes that the rights of others must 
be respected, and later he feels they ought to be respected. 

A child's conscience grows out of his social experience, wherein he 
has been made to realize through the reactions of people upon his ex- 
pressions that certain actions may be freely performed, while others 
must be restrained. As he matures, the concrete factors are gradually 
eliminated and the remaining feeling, reenforced by lessons from his- 
tory, literature, art, and religion, suffices to guide conduct; and con- 
science is active only when conduct is not in accord with the lessons 
impressed in the manner indicated. As the individual acquires a sense 
of the attitudes of people in general, whether of those about him or in 
books, he gains a feeling for certain kinds of ideal conduct, and con- 
science is felt only when he is conscious of disharmony between his 
ideal and his real action. Consciousness on the social side is thus a kind 
of theatre in which our friends and acquaintances, the public in general, 
and characters derived from literature, history, and art, constitute the 
audience and pass judgment upon our performances. 

In religion the idealizing process attains a prominence which it does 
not attain in any other phase of the child's experience. The young 
child is very realistic in his religious conceptions. That instruction 
which portrays religious personages as perfect in conduct, and also 
omniscient, omnipotent, and the like, and whose office it is to reward 
good and punish wrong action in human beings, becomes potent in the 
child's life in dissuading him from certain forbidden acts, and coercing 
him in the performance of acts which he would neglect except for 
stimulus applied a posteriori. But religious teachers often fail to make 
a deep impress upon children, because their teaching is theological, 
technical, and is merely verbal so far as the learner is concerned. 



CHAPTEE IV 

JUSTICE 

OuE discussion thus far has prepared the way for a consid- 
eration of the development of certain special attitudes aris- 
Basaiexpe- ing in the social adjustments of the individual ; 
thedevei- and first, the attitudes involving the sentiment 
tJrsentf- ^^ justice. We have traced the method by which 
meat the child acquires the conception that the alter has 

feelings of pleasure and pain like himself. We have also 
noted that in the process of development his sense of the 
alter' s attitudes and needs becomes ever keener, and exerts 
an increasingly determining influence upon his conduct, 
leading him to regard and to treat the alter much, though 
not precisely, as he regards and treats the self. As a result 
of this developmental process, the child comes in due course 
to realize that the alter has rights which first rnust be and 
later ought to be, respected in all the relations which the 
self assumes toward him. The goal toward which the indi- 
vidual normally tends in his social development is undoubt- 
edly the point at which he will readily grant to the alter 
the privileges enjoyed by the self, and impose upon him 
the same obligations; and he will insist in all the ways he 
can upon every person receiving pleasures or pains accord- 
ing to his deserts ; though the sentiments of mercy and pity 
may sometimes urge him to shield the alter from the suffer- 
ing which his acts would entitle him to, in accordance with 
the general view of justice current in the community at the 
time. It is a commonplace, of course, that this sentiment 
becomes embodied in time in laws or rules or customs, and 
the individual who is strictly just will insist upon all the 
members of the community being dealt with in conformity 
thereto. But in every advancing society the sentiments of 



RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES 87 

sympathy, pity, and mercy go beyond the established laws 
or customs, and they may, as they often do, protect individ- 
uals from the consequences of their deeds as viewed in the 
light of the regulations on the statute books. Thus mercy 
has the effect of tempering justice, a phenomenon which 
will receive the attention it deserves in another chapter. 

When we say that the development of the sentiment of 
justice tends toward the point at which the individual will 
treat the alter as he does the self, it must be siiuaiity 

understood that the term alter as here used can- «>* eights 

, Tin i andrespon- 

not be interpreted to apply to all persons whom- sitiuues 

soever beside the self, but, speaking generally, members of 
only to those in the same " class " or group or * "^^^^ 
circle with the self. One " gentleman " may resist any 
suggestion to take advantage of another " gentleman " ; 
but he may act very differently toward his servant or his 
slave. A Greek might think it unjust to cheat one of his 
own nationality, but at the same time he might not hesi- 
tate to take advantage of a foreigner. A student may feel 
the justice of playing fair with his fellow students, but he 
may experience no resistance to the impulse to take advan- 
tage of the members of another college with which his 
alma mater may be in competition, or even to deceive to 
his own gain the instructors under whom he works. Evi- 
dently the individual tends to recognize equality of privi- 
leges, rewards, responsibilities, and penalties only among 
those of a kind with himself, as he sees the matter. We 
have already noticed how the consciousness of differences 
among people is developed in the individual ; and once this 
process of differentiation gets started, it gives rise to the 
idea that aU people are not equal, and so are not entitled 
to the same rewards and penalties for any given deed or 
catalogue of deeds. What would be excused in a king, say, 
might cost a peasant his life. But kings, like peasants, 
have their own codes, which operate on the whole to insure 
equality among the members of the respective groups. 



88 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

Thus the sentiment of justice often serves to make per- 
manent stratifications in social groupings, however estab- 
lished, for it tends to keep individuals within the confines 
of their respective classes in respect to their privileges and 
responsibilities, their rewards and penalties. On the other 
hand, in very plastic groups the sentiment of justice plays 
an important part in changing the boundary lines between 
classes, and in abolishing these lines altogether under cer- 
tain conditions. While in American society there is some- 
times a tendency for members of the " higher " classes to 
resent the efforts of a member of a " lower " class to push 
upward beyond his " station," still it is possible for one in 
the humblest sphere of life to be elevated to the most ex- 
alted position, provided he is able to serve society effectively 
according to its needs at the time. So there is developing 
among us a feeling, more or less general and well-defined, 
that in the spirit of justice a man should be rewarded — 
in honor and opportunity, perhaps, rather than in money — 
according to the measure of his ability, and his sincerity in 
serving the community. Capacity to do what society desires 
to have done, and faithfulness in the doing of it, are prob- 
ably more important desiderata in the formation of classes 
in our country than elsewhere, though even among us 
wealth and ancestral connections play leading parts. 

But we must return to trace out in greater detail the 
steps by which the adult's complex sentiment of justice is 
The role oi developed. We have noted above how social ex- 
thec" Ud-s perience works upon the original e^o-centric ten- 
first social dencies of the child, and modifies, restrains, 

adjust- ,. , 111 

ments diverts them, and even supplants them to some 

extent by alter-centric tendencies. It has been said in 
effect more than once that, in the process of adjustment to 
his fellows, the individual inevitably acquires a more or 
less settled habit of taking into account the interests, the 
point of view, and the tendencies of the alter. Now, this 
experience lays the basis for the sentiment of justice in its 



FIRST SOCIAL ADJUSTMENTS 89 

fundamental meaning, — that all individuals should have 
an equal chance in competition for the goods they seek to 
obtain, and that they should sufPer impartially according to 
their responsibility for misdeeds they have performed, or 
for errors in judgment. It need hardly be insisted upon 
here, after what has already been said, that the young child 
is a bully, who strives to get more than his just portion of 
the things he desires, and endeavors to transfer to others 
the penalties which rightfully he should bear. The child of 
two will not normally play fair when he is in competition 
with his fellows. He will make use of every means at his 
command to get that which he wishes, whatever it may be, 
irrespective of the rights of others who are affected by his 
action. He shows but slight appreciation of the feelings of 
his parents, even in the varied activities of the home. He 
is completely dominated by the goal toward which he is 
striving, and nothing but forceful resistance on the part of 
the alter can restrain him, when restraint is necessary ; and 
it is probable that the original, all-powerful egoistic mo- 
tives get modified or checked only by determined resistance 
from those more powerful than the child. In time, as the 
number of such occasions increases, the child comes to an- 
ticipate them, so that he can with some measure of success 
check himself. 

If one will follow a child day by day, he may trace this 
experience of resistance coming to be anticipated. Take, for 
example, the case of a young child playing the game of toss- 
ball with a group of children or adults. Let us say that at 
the start he demands the ball most or aU of the time. When 
another gets it he cries for it, and gives vent to angry ex- 
pressions if it is denied him. All in the group say to him, 
" It is not your turn ; you have just had it ; you must let the 
others take their turn," and so on ; but he is indifferent, at 
this stage of his development, to their attitudes. He shrieks 
at the top of his voice if it is not given to him, and if there 
are older persons around to whom he can appeal, he will run 



90 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

to them and endeavor by various means to excite them so 
that they will come to his aid, and enable him to gain his 
end. If he can get no help in this way, then he may try to 
prevent the one who has the ball from playing with it ; or as 
a last resort he may try to break up the group, or go off 
sulking, expecting in this way to arouse the feelings of his 
tormentors so that they will cease their opposition to him. 
In all this experience there appears to be no consciousness 
on his part that he is in the wrong ; so far as his own atti- 
tude is concerned, he is justified in getting the ball if he 
wants it. Justice for him requires that his wishes be always 
indulged. He is sincere about it, if it be proper to apply the 
term " sincerity " to one whose motives are practically all 
governed by a selfish aim, as his are. 

But follow this child along for a little distance, and ob- 
serve him taking his first lessons in justice, as the group 
The method understands it. The persons whom he attempts to 
lisYonsS* l^ully will not give in to him. They teU him if he 
Justice ^iii u play fair " and " take his turn " he may play, 
but otherwise he must stay out. If the group is constant in 
this attitude, the child will sooner or later discover that he 
must check himself if he would stay in the game at all. He 
wiU resist the development of this notion, but it will get 
established in time. One can observe it taking effect in the 
child's attitudes. Yesterday, and for several days before 
that, perhaps, he tried to bully the group, but he finally 
drew himself sullenly off into the corner, and the game went 
on without him. To-day he repeats the performance, but 
one notices that he goes into his corner less readily; and 
with some encouragement from the group he may literally 
drag himself back into line, and actually take his turn. For 
the rest of the game he will " play fair " without protest ; 
he has learned that the group will resist him unless he does 
as the others do. Of course, this change is not wrought 
suddenly as a rule ; but whether it takes a long or a short 
time to accomplish, it is always brought about according to 



THE SENSE OF PROPERTY RIGHTS 91 

this general plan. The instance cited is typical of innumer- 
able cases occurring normally in the daily life of the child, 
and all having substantially the same history and the same 
outcome. It is true that some children are not in their early 
years resisted in many of their aggressions, but such chil- 
dren simply defer their elementary lessons in justice until 
they come in contact with groups that wiU resist them ; and 
it is only a matter of time before they will meet these 
groups, unless possibly they be the children of kings. But 
even these latter children must ultimately come into conflict 
with those of their own class who will resist them in their 
unjust demands. 

This wiU, perhaps, be the best point at which to consider 
one of the most important though elementary phases of the 
development of the sentiment of justice, — the Appearance 
evolution of the sense of property, with the re- oipropwiy" 
cognition of the rights and duties appertaining J^^siita 
thereunto. As we have already noted, the infant comes 
among us with the naive feeling that everything he wants 
" belongs " to him, in proof of which observe his utter lack 
of restraint in striving to secure whatever attracts him. 
His instinctive attitude is, get everything that is in any 
way desirable. The six-months'-old child shows no apprecia- 
tion, so far as one can tell, of the principle of property, ex- 
cept that he should so far as possible obtain and retain all 
that he can lay his hands on that pleases him or gratifies 
his curiosity. He cannot, of course, be said to have a feeling 
of right with respect to it, since he cannot appreciate that 
the alter has a valid claim upon anything. The sense of right 
can be felt only when the individual realizes that the alter 
is competing for goods he himself desires, and that because 
of previous experience affecting the things in question one 
or the other should secure them and exercise dominion over 
them. The infant's feeling is that he should be master of all 
he surveys ; and the representations to the contrary made 
by those about him have no effect on him, unless they for- 



92 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

cibly resist his cupidity, when he usually protests with voice, 
fists, and body until he becomes exhausted, or until his at- 
tention is diverted into other channels. But so long as the 
desired objects are kept in view, the untaught, " natural " 
child assumes only one attitude toward them, and that an 
appropriative or aggressive one. His brother may say to him : 
" But it is mine^ you know " ; " You cannot have my things, 
for I do not take your things," and so on ad libitum ; but 
these phrases mean nothing to the individual who has not 
had some months, at least, of vital experience in meeting 
with resistance in endeavoring to get control of goods which 
have already been appropriated by the alter in accordance 
with the rules of the social game. The principle is that the 
terms mine and thine require for their proper understand- 
ing by the child a vast deal of give-and-take contact with 
others, as a result of which there is slowly developed the 
sense that objects belong to people by virtue of their having 
had certain types of experience with them. 

Let us glance now at the way in which the individual 
discovers what sort of experience one must have with an 
Develop- object in order to claim it as his own against all 
preciauo^n" competitors. To begin with, whatever the infant 
of the right has in his grasp he will strive to retain as long as 
sion he gets pleasure from it ; and he will even endure 

considerable punishment before he will release it. Take, for 
example, his resistance to any attempts to remove his bottle 
before he has satisfied himself with it ; and this is a typical 
instance. As he develops, and begins to grip objects about 
him, he shows the same tendency to keep all he can lay his 
hands on that pleases him. Now, suppose he is permitted to 
retain whatever he gets in his grasp, and he is given every 
object that he desires ; in such cases the original feeling 
that all he wants he will secure is deepened in him, and 
his expressions become ever more violent if accidentally or 
otherwise his wishes are thwarted in any way. But sooner 
or later he is resisted in his attempt to gain possession of 



THE RIGHT OF POSSESSION 93 

objects which are much desired by others to whom they 
" belong," and at that moment he begins to differentiate 
goods into those that the alter will not permit him to have, 
no matter what efforts he makes to obtain them ; those that 
he can secure if he struggles vigorously for them ; and 
those that no one tries to deprive him of, or to resist him 
in his efforts to secure them. When he is prevented by his 
brother from taking a certain object, the latter says to him : 
" It is mine because papa (or mamma or some one) gave 
it to me "; or, " They said / might have it " ; or, " because I 
got it first "; or, " because I found it "; or, " because I 
have had it a long time" and so on through a number of 
other reasons. If the father prevents him from getting the 
object he desires, it is " because it is not good for you" or 
" it belongs to Brother" and so on. But, the child never 
sees the justice of these positions at the outset; he always 
responds with, " Well, I want it." This is the only reason 
he can understand for claiming anything of value. But he 
is resisted, and he learns, through ceaseless opposition to his 
aggressions, that when father or mother gives an object to 
his brother he himself must keep his hands off it. He comes 
to this point in his evolution very slowly, but the reactions 
of the social environment keep him moving toward it with 
greater or less rapidity, depending upon the strength of his 
original impulses in comparison with the intensity and con- 
stancy of the educative influences playing on him. 

So, by the method sketched above, he discovers that when 
a brother or sister or playmate is in possession of an object, 
no matter how he or she came by it, it cannot be appropriated 
by himself without violent reactions from those who have 
control of it. One can observe this lesson as it is being 
learned and applied in the child's daily adjustments. In the 
beginning, when he is acquiring familiarity with the ele- 
mental principles of property rights, he at times extends 
his application of the principles to his dog, his cat, even his 
rocking-horse ; they must be left in control of the objects 



94 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

which they now possess. One can see a child vigorously de- 
fend the rights of his pets against the depredations of the 
marauders about them. There is, perhaps, an element of 
make-believe in this, for it is not long before the individual 
shows that when his interests so advise, he will pay no heed 
to the rights of his pets, but he will without any restraint 
despoil them of their belongings for his own advantage. It 
is not long in his learning process before he will ascribe 
genuine property rights only to those living things that really 
resist his attempts to plunder them. 

While his freedom of appropriation is thus being narrowed 
constantly through the reaction of the alter, the principle 
involved is brought out distinctly in his experience when he 
is in conflict with his fellows in respect to his own posses- 
sions. If he is being attacked by invaders, he calls upon his 
father or mother or any person who can help him to defend 
his belongings. Then arises the necessity of determining 
whether he is entitled to the goods he claims, and the novice 
is made to give a reason, acceptable to those about him, why 
he should not be deprived of some or all of them. This is 
an exceedingly illuminating sort of experience for him ; it 
compels him to recognize certain fundamental property 
rights, and to consciously employ the principles involved in 
trying to keep his " things " under his control. Every hour 
of waking life during the first few years, he must appeal to 
these principles in his inevitable conflicts with his fellows, if 
he has give-and-take relations with them. Slowly the princi- 
ples are brought out more or less clearly, depending upon 
the nature of his experience, because matters of vital con- 
cern to him are settled by them, and they define for him 
what he may get and keep, and what he may not appro- 
priate. 

As the child develops, and his relations with people be- 
come ever more complex, he continually learns new and 
more and more subtle principles of ownership; and he 
finds as he endeavors, to obtain and retain goods that the 



PRINCIPLES OF OWNERSHIP 95 

rules he first learned must be modified in various ways. 
For instance, it is revealed to him in due course, Develop- 
though he resists learning the lessons, that he may mental 

" . . changes in 

not always keep possession of an object when he respect to 
finds it, or when it is given him by a companion, of o-^ner- 
or when he hnys it with his penny, and so on. It sWp 
must be impressed by repetition that he abandons any prin- 
ciple of ownership when it operates to his advantage only 
after a hard struggle ; he " cannot see " why he should not 
keep this or that ; " I always have done so," and the " other 
boys keep their things when they are given to them," and 
so on. There are conflicts at every step forward, from the 
time when original impulse begins to get restrained and 
diverted until the individual comes into complete accord, if 
he ever does, with social practice so far as it directly affects 
him. If social practice is constantly changing in some re- 
spects, — as it is in every plastic or dynamic society, — the 
individual never reaches the point where all conflict in re- 
gard to rightful ownership ceases. As his range of social 
contact enlarges he is brought up against traditions, customs, 
laws which he cannot understand. Like the boy of six, he 
" cannot see " why he may not keep complete control of the 
goods that in a simpler social organization would of right 
perhaps belong to him. When he comes into the city from 
a rural life, he must reconstruct many of his principles of 
ownership; he cannot now enjoy the liberties with some of 
his belongings which he enjoyed when the interests of but 
relatively few people were involved in his use of them. 

The greater the number of egos the child comes into vital 
relations with, the more intricate becomes the question of 
control and ownership. Also, when scarcity of goods exists, 
and the desire for possession becomes ever more urgent, 
the greater the tendency to modify the principles governing 
ownership, so that those who have in relative abundance 
may share with those who are in need. It is probable that 
the individual passes through some such a course in respect 



96 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

to recognition of the principles of ownership, as does the 
society of which he is a member, if it is at all plastic. As 
members increase in any community, the principles of control 
and possession must be constantly revised, to insure that 
some may not possess the world to the disinheritance of 
others. Thus there are no eternal and immutable rules of 
possession in any dynamic society. These rules depend in 
general upon the conditions which will secure comfortable 
existence to the greatest number, as the greatest number 
sees the matter at the time, though no people so far as we 
know has ever completely realized this ideal, albeit many 
have striven toward it. Needless to say, perhaps, we are 
here touching upon a well-nigh infinitely complex matter, 
when we consider the practices of the different races of 
men, and the present tendencies among progressive nations, 
which are seeking deliberately to construct rules of action 
that will insure the perpetuity of the society, and secure to 
each individual to the largest possible extent life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness. Forever, if these ends be 
attained, there must be reconstruction of the principles of 
ownership as the conditions of the society itself change. 

It should be noted in this connection that the lessons 
taught the child by the group in the negative manner already 
Ther6ieoi indicated are usually supplemented by positive 
positive In- instruction eriven in different ways. For one thing, 
developing in his games the child s companions commend nim 
menH?" when he " plays fair," and the effect of this ap- 
justice proval is plainly apparent upon the individual at 
every point in his ethical development. He keenly appre- 
ciates having all those in his group applaud him for his 
actions, wherein he takes no advantage but gives every one 
a fair show under the rules. At times, it is true, the attitude 
of the group may not be favorable to the development of 
justice in one of its number who may be inclined to bully ; 
but it is within bounds to say that, in ninety-nine cases out 
of a hundred, children from the sixth or seventh year on 



THE SENTIMENT OF JUSTICE 97 

will in their group attitudes encourage at least simple, crude 
justice as it concerns the activities of individuals in a group. 
A gang may prey on " outsiders," and it may idolize him 
among their number who has the least regard for the rights 
of his victims ; but at the same time the group will resist 
any inclination in such an one to give rein to his aggressive 
temper when he is dealing with the group itself. Even 
among thieves there is honor ; they must play fair with one 
another, though they may recognize no obligations toward 
any one without their circle. 

This group reaction upon the individual's concrete acts 
continues throughout the entire course of his ethical devel- 
opment ; and its most marked general effect is its tendency 
to make him conform to the rules of the game as played by 
the group at the time. As the child's range of activity 
increases, he comes into touch with groups of ever-widen- 
ing ethical interests, until if he lives his life normally he 
will run through the scale from infancy to maturity, and 
he will get group reaction upon practically every aspect of 
social conduct, — censure if he does not play fair, and com- 
mendation if he does unto others (the others of the group) 
as he would be done by. He cannot escape this moulding 
process by the group. Whatever he does at any period of 
his ethical career, after the age of one or two at the latest, 
produces a response of some sort from the group or groups 
in which he holds membership ; and looking at the matter 
in a large way, this response serves to encourage just ac- 
tion, and discourage that which is unjust, according to the 
customs of the time and the place. 

The kind of group response to individual action we have 
been examining is more or less non-reflective, even reflex 
or automatic. But the group, through specially purposeful 
delegated members, often reacts upon the child's ^^atainj^y 
aggressions in a deliberate, conscious way, with the group 
the purpose in view to make him appreciate that unwilling- 
ness to play fair is "mean," "piggish," "contemptible," 



98 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

unjust, and so he should change his attitude. Even a child 
who is habitually in the bullying attitude will often de- 
nounce one of his fellows when the latter tries to take such 
an advantage as he may frequently take himself. Children 
are very quick to give publicity, with appropriate comments, 
to mean actions among aU those with whom they are in 
competition in any way, in order thus to arouse hostile 
reactions from the group. It is practically impossible for 
a child, from the time he begins to understand any form 
of expression in the alter, to escape for any considerable 
period this sort of ethical education, aimed at making him 
restrain his egoistic impulses. In the beginning the mother 
tells him " it is not right " to keep the ball all the time ; 
his brothers and sisters want to play as well as he does. 
She asks him how he would like it if they should keep it 
from him so that he could not play ; and so on ad libitum. 
Later his fellows become more dynamic and effective in 
their instruction ; and while all this has but slight influence 
upon egoistic tendencies at the outset, still the effect is 
cumulative, and grows ever more compelling as the group 
resists the individual in his bullying, and penalizes him for 
his selfishness. Of course, terms like "right," "mean," 
etc., have little if any significance for the child until he 
gets well started in his ethical evolution ; and they would 
never signify anything definite probably if he did not meet 
with resistance in his aggression, or if those near him were 
not resisted in their depredations upon the rights of others. 
It is suggestive to note with what feeling a mother may 
condemn a certain action because it is not right or just, 
while her five-year-old boy may be entirely unaffected in 
contemplation either of the unjust act or the mother's con- 
demnation of it ; which is one evidence that the sentiment 
of justice is the product primarily, not of natural endow- 
ment but of social experience, wherein the rights of the 
alter are literally pounded into the individual. 

But there are doubtless certain instinctive tendencies 



INSTINCTIVE TENDENCIES 99 

functioning in the child's reactions in some of the situations 
in which the sentiment of justice is operative in instinctive 

a crude form. Even at a very early ao^e the indi- elements 

.,,.,, , . / PI. ^1 Inthesen- 

vidual wili resent the punishment or ms pet dog umentoi 

by any member of the family ; indeed, he will ^"^^*°^ 
resent the harsh treatment of any of his possessions as soon 
as he begins to get the feeling that they belong to him 
and not to others. So, too, he will show indignation as 
early as the twelfth month when a larger brother chastises 
a smaller one (it is not so often the case the other way 
'round), except possibly when the babe himself has de- 
manded the administering of the penalty. That is to say, 
the year-old child is a not wholly indiiferent spectator of 
the adjustments of his associates to one another.^ In a very 
elementary, crude way, and while he is still an infant almost, 
he resents the domination of the weak by the strong espe- 
cially, though he may show some feeling also if a smaller 
person makes another, who may be strong, suffer in a very 
concrete way. Later on he will lend his voice and his fists 
in support of the weak individual, or the " under dog," 
even if the latter seems strong, in the event that he has no 
personal interest in the conflicts which arouse his feeling. 

Of course, the child's own interests are bound up some- 
how in the contests of his fellows in most of the social 
dramas occurring in his presence in daily life, so that it is 
impossible to say definitely to what extent his natural feel- 
ing for fair play determines his conduct in much that he 

^ H. J, P,, a correspondent, gives the following testimony touching this 
point : — 

" My experience varies upon this matter. It appears that it makes a dif- 
ference who the actors are. ' M.,' my infant sister, was visibly displeased 
whenever I attempted (in playfulness, though to her it was in earnest) to 
' pummel ' father, providing he showed signs of resentment. I might act the 
same toward another member younger than I, and babe would not resent 
it. In this instance the baby seemed to sympathize most with those who 
were doing most for ' baby.' Mother was as liable as myself to be rebuked, 
providing she should in any apparent manner abuse father, who then held 
her (baby). My younger brother has always supported me as against my 
sisters, although they are all younger than I." 



100 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

does. Moreover, his love of combat often leads Mm to 
countenance conflicts which an active sentiment of justice 
would urge him to terminate if he could. Boys not infre- 
quently stand by for a time and see a bully punish one not 
of his dimensions or strength ; but sooner or later the sense 
of fair play wiU be likely to assert itself, and the aggressor 
will be told to take some one of his size. Young children 
are not ready and skillful in detecting differences in size 
and strength, but when these differences are very obvious, 
their inclination is to side with the weaker ones in the con- 
tests they witness. Any close observer of children in group 
relations can notice them from the first year on standing 
up for what might be regarded as the right, though they 
do not think of it in this way. In general, the child will 
sympathize with one who is suffering pain, as against the 
one who caused it. It happens now and then normally in the 
child's life that he is led astray by his feelings, for he may 
take the side of one who deserves chastisement, and who 
would be benefited by it. But the child does not look for- 
ward or backward before he expresses his feelings ; he 
reacts at once, on the basis that pain should be relieved 
and the person (or even the thing) who occasioned it should 
himseK be made to suffer. It is suggestive that, when the 
child is in a resentful frame of mind, he can easily endure 
the sufferings of the one against whom his resentment is 
directed ; indeed, he often takes keen pleasure in inflicting 
penalties upon some one who has made him " mad," even 
though the latter may be his best friend. 

It is worthy of emphasis that the sentiment of justice as 
eixpressed by the child is altogether " blind," to use the pop- 
The reflex ular figure of speech. When the child observes a 
the sent?- °* contest he does not take account of circumstances, 

ment of jns- as the adult normally does, in order that he may 
tlce la the _ . , . , ,. i ,.<••.! • i i. 

heginning determine which of the contestants is m tne right, 

or whether both may be wrong. The child's impulse leads 

him, as a rule, to throw his strength to the support of the 



THE CHILD'S NOTION OF JUSTICE 101 

one who in size and strength is clearly at a disadvantage, 
though he may really need chastisement. He may have 
presumed upon his weakness, and attempted the role of an 
aggressor ; but the child cannot go so far in his considera- 
tion of contributing factors. The feeling for fair play on the 
part of the child, and to a less extent of the adolescent, is 
not held in check until motives or " extenuating circum- 
stances " can be reviewed. This is without doubt the most 
striking difference between the adult's and the child's 
attitudes toward situations in which equity is involved. 

The principle in question has an interesting application 
in another way. Take a family of seven, say, — the father 
and mother and five children, the latter from three to 
twelve years of age. Suppose they are engaged in the per- 
formance of household duties of some sort, which are not on 
the whole agreeable. The chances are that very frequently 
questions of fair play must be considered. The parents try 
to settle them in view of conditions which should make one 
child do more or less, or a diiferent kind of work, than 
another. But if the children be given freedom to express 
themselves, the younger ones at least will often be in con- 
stant turmoil. Each is apt to suspect that the other is fa- 
vored above himself, and he cannot easily be made to 
appreciate the equity in the matter. The only thing that 
will satisfy him will be to have all the others do just as he 
does, no matter what it may be, except in the case that he 
is doing something that he particularly likes to do, when 
he is most skillfid in discovering reasons why he should be 
left alone in the enjoyment of his pleasure. If a boy of five 
be sent from table to wash his hands, he is apt to demand, 
if he feels free to express himself, that his brother be made 
to go also, even though his brother is not in need of ablu- 
tion. It may be noted, though, that the arguments the boy 
now urges for having his brother do the same unpleasant 
thing as himself he will decry loudly to-morrow night, when 
his brother uses them against him under exactly the same 



102 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

circumstances. The young child is amazingly inconsistent 
in his evaluation of circumstances which should govern the 
conduct of himself and of his fellows ; he is a long way 
from acting so that his action might be made universal. 
The child of twelve is normally far more consistent, and 
the youth of twenty is still more so. This is revealed in a 
striking manner in the resistance which is being constantly 
offered by the parents, teachers, and others to the aggres- 
sions of the three-year-old, and the comparatively slight re- 
sistance offered to the activities of the twenty-year-old. The 
latter has brought his original impulses under control, so 
that he can and normally does avoid the actions which meet 
with opposition from those about him, while at the same 
time he deliberately performs to a greater or less extent 
those actions that receive the approval, positively expressed, 
of his associates. The five-year-old must have fifteen years 
of vital experience before he can lay his course along a 
route on which he will not meet with continual opposition 
as he endeavors to proceed, but on which he will rather be 
given applause. 

How can one describe all the difficulties which the child 
experiences in comprehending the principles of equity which 
are applied in adjudicating the conflicts which arise in his 
daily adjustments! Doubtless most of the actions of the 
child of seven, say, which are performed in response to the 
request or command of those in authority over him, and 
most of the restrictions imposed upon him, seem to him 
unfair, in the sense that he resists them, and finds reasons 
why he should be excused from submitting to them. He is 
utterly unable to see why others should be favored above 
himself in any of the concerns in which he is interested. 
" I don't see why I can't go to skate if K. does " ; " I don't 
see why I have to go to school when S. does n't " ; " Why 
can't I stay up until nine o'clock ? the other boys do " ; "I 
don't see why I can't have as many sugar lumps as H. 
does," and so on ad libitum^ are instances which illustrate 



EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES 103 

the child's difficulties in understanding the justice of any 
rules which do not operate to his liking-, though he may be 
very ready to defend them in their application to a brother 
or sister or classmate. S. cannot see why he cannot sit up 
as late as V., who is older than himself, though he will 
" argue " with K. to show her she should not remain up as 
long as he because she is younger than he is ; and this in- 
stance is typical of what is going on normally much of the 
time in the life of a group of children from three to ten 
years of age, when their spontaneous expressions are not 
suppressed. 

Before he acquires a feeling for an equitable adjustment 
of relations, then, the child demands that rules be made 
universal irrespective of persons or conditions, ex- Deveiop- 
cept when his own interests are at stake, when he "^®^* °\ ^ 
easily sees that justice would not be violated if he tionot "ex- 
should be favored. The conditions which come ciroum- 
earliest to be regarded as requiring special consid- ^^^'^^^" 
eration in the administration of rules of behavior are sick- 
ness, smallness, weakness, or age, especially the former. 
When an individual is obviously ailing, so that he presents 
to the eye of the child a weakened or strange aspect, then the 
latter will exempt him from the requirememts which he will 
impose on all others, because they have sometime been im- 
posed on himself. The possession of superior talents, or 
hereditary rights, or anything of the sort is given no attention 
by the young child in his universalizing of the ethical law, 
though they usually play a prominent part in the judgments 
of youth. Even productivity is not considered as a basis for 
discrimination, for the father or mother will often be held 
by the children for the performance of the duties required 
of themselves ; and they will expect the parents, who have 
alone produced goods of value, to share and share alike 
in their distribution, unless the parents have from the begin- 
ning compelled the children to play a subordinate role in 
the domestic drama. But in this latter case the children 



104 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

defer to the parents in their ethical judgments because they 
must, and not because they feel the justice of it. However, 
as the child grows into the adolescent period, he normally 
comes to recognize the special claims of age, mainly, no 
doubt, because of the precedence which tradition gives to 
the older people of the community. By the time he has 
reached his twelfth year, at any rate, the chances are that 
the individual has read and heard much about respecting 
one's elders, and always yielding to them simply because 
they are older and so more deserving than others. It is 
significant, however, that in communities where age is not 
venerated, the children do not spontaneously come to make 
distinctions in their judgments in favor of their elders. In 
street gangs marked disrespect is often shown to older 
people, especially when they become infirm, and are unable 
to redress the wrongs done them ; all of which suggests that 
there is little if any instinctive provision made for the child's 
discriminating in favor of those older than he. 

The favoring of age in administering rules of justice is a 
matter of social, not physical heredity. It has literally to be 
driven into many children ; it appears as though they natu- 
rally resisted it. In a primitive society the elders force the 
young to make obeisance to them, and always to decide in 
their favor as against younger individuals ; and even among 
highly developed peoples, as the Germans particularly, the 
educational regime from the cradle to full maturity is cal- 
culated to teach special regard for age, so that the young 
come as a rule to grant to older people rights and privileges 
which they would deny persons of their own age. But this 
is not in the least "natural"; it is imposed upon the child, 
and he accepts it as a matter of necessity. In America there 
is, on the whole, a tendency for children to treat adults on 
the same basis as they treat their companions ; justice de- 
mands that they all conform to the same rules in respect to 
privileges, as well as penalties and rewards. Indeed, in 
some instances the child early acquires the attitude of ex- 



( 



APPRECIATION OF MOTIVES 105 

pecting that his elders will always give way to him and his 
companions ; they did so during his first few years, and his 
sense of fair play has been determined accordingly. 

H. is the only boy in a family of three adults, who have 
" cherished " him dearly, and have always " humored " him 
in his demands. He frequently has playmates in the house, 
and he exacts from the older people the same consideration 
for these playmates that he himself receives. As a result, 
he has reached the point where he expects his elders will 
always serve him and his playmates and sacrifice for them. 
He cannot quite understand it when he finds an adult who 
will not indulge him in his every wish. For him, justice 
requires that he should have the right of way before grown 
people, which is exactly the reverse of what one finds in a 
tj^pical German household. We see here another piece of 
evidence to the effect that the sentiment of justice, as ex- 
pressed in the early years at any rate, is the product of 
experience, and it differs with individuals according as their 
experiences differ. A child who has from the beginning 
been resisted by older people in authority over him, and 
required to take a minor part in the affairs of daily life, 
will come to feel that the parent, the teacher, the minister, 
the policeman, et al. should always by right have the best 
end of everything ; their wills, however they may be ex- 
pressed, should not be ignored or opposed by himself. But 
children who have "had their own way," as against grown 
people, will not know how to take resistance to their wishes 
from the teacher, the minister, or any one else. 

One of the most interesting phases of the evolution of 
the sentiment of justice concerns the development of an 
appreciation of motive^ as determining the sort of Deveiop- 
reaction which the individual should make upon appreciation 
the expressions of the alter. In the beginning, p|!ni<rtiveia 
actions are responded to in view of their external actions 
character and their outcome, no matter what may have been 
the alter' s intentions in respect to them. The child really 



106 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

assumes his attitudes in view of the results of the alter s 
conduct, and he expects the latter to do the same in respect 
to his own actions. If a child of two has been punished for 
carelessly breaking his dish, say, he will anticipate similar 
treatment when he breaks it in a purely accidental and 
unavoidable way. In a home where children are frequently 
whipped or chided for acts of negligence, destruction, vio- 
lence, or interference with the activities of one another or 
the established order of things, they demand that "justice 
be meted out " to any one who has offended in any of these 
ways, whether or not he is negligently or intentionally guilty. 
" An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," regardless of 
motive, sums up the child's code of justice and equity, 
which terms mean to him the same sort of attitude. It is 
the visible, taiigible effects of action that he goes by in 
reaching his conclusions as to the treatment deserved by 
the actor. But it is in one sense not proper to use the 
term deserved here, for the young child has no mental 
content which would enable him to make the discrimina- 
tions implied in the term deserve. To intelligently use this 
term, one must have reached the plane of development 
where he can feel that the alter is not to be judged by the 
outcome of his action so much as by his motive in perform- 
ing it, and the conditions under which it is performed. 
All this is beyond the two or three-year-old, though some 
children show evidence as early as the fourth year of appre- 
ciating motives and determining conditions of actions. How- 
ever, such appreciation is quite imperfect at four ; but 
normally it grows ever stronger, more comprehensive, and 
controlling until maturity is reached. 

"We must now inquire how the child acquires the feeling 
for motives as determining the essential quality of actions. 
To begin with, from the first year on he is often placed in 
situations where the notion of motive is made prominent 
in dealing with individuals, though he does not seem to catch 
a glimpse of the idea until he is weU past his second birth- 



APPRECIATION OF MOTIVES 107 

day. But in due course he discovers that the parent and 
the brothers and sisters do not react in the same way upon 
all his actions which have substantially the same outcome. 
For instance, S., V., and H. are building a " fort " in their 
nursery. K., who is not permitted to move around the " fort" 
as freely as she wishes, at last breaks down a part of it in 
a fit of anger. Impulsively the injured children fly at her, and 
" spank " her. She remonstrates, and goes complainingly 
to her mother, who comes as a judge to the scene of the 
disaster. The proprietors of the " fort " make it clear to the 
latter that K. performed the evil deed " on purpose," and 
the mother tells K. she must bear the penalty she received ; 
and, moreover, she must be isolated for a time, since she 
" cannot play nicely and fairly." She tells K. how " naughty " 
it is to disturb her brothers and sisters in the way she did, 
and how she cannot let her go near them at all again unless 
she can be good. The culprit is, of course, in a more or less 
impervious and resistant attitude toward this instruction, but 
nevertheless it has an effect, and with repetition it ulti- 
mately makes a deep impression. 

This instance is typical, in essential features, of experi- 
ences the child is having constantly during his early years 
and, in more and more subtle ways, even well on toward 
adolescence, and possibly through it and beyond it. But here 
now is a different sort of experience, which makes the 
learner of ethical lessons see that as a rule it is motive 
rather than outcome that is chiefly considered in the way 
the alter responds to his conduct. The "fort" is again 
knocked down by K., but this time she accidentally stum- 
bled and fell on it. She herself appreciates a difference 
between her attitude in this and in the other case. Then, after 
the first more or less angry expressions of those who suf- 
fered from her accident, they forgive her, and dismiss her 
with the warning " that she must be more careful next time." 
This, too, is in outline a typical instance of nursery life, 
and of the life outside as well ; and it serves to differentiate 



108 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

actions in the individual's consciousness on the basis of his 
attitude toward the alter in performing them. So, by the 
time the child is four, one maj'" frequently hear him excus- 
ing himself on the plea that he " did not mean to do " this or 
that "; he realizes more or less clearly that this is one way 
to escape penalties for careless and even vicious acts, and 
he tends to employ the formula whenever there is an open- 
ing. He comes easily to think he is not responsible to the 
extent of being penalized for the unhappy outcome of his ac- 
tions if he does not deliberately harm any one. Of course, 
he is not very keen in distinguishing between what is de- 
liberate or purposeful and what is only accidental. He is 
not at all introspective ; and actions which the adult often 
regards as malicious, he may himself say are without evil 
intent. 

On the other hand, if he has not been punished for his 
spiteful actions, he will be perfectly free in confessing that 
he did this or that " on purpose. " H. at four years of age 
affords an illustration of this principle. He has always " had 
his own way " in a home where he has had only adults for 
companions ; and when he plays with other children, as he 
sometimes does now, he inflicts divers sorts of pains upon 
them, merely because they get in his way, or deprive him 
of some object he covets. When he is asked for an explana- 
tion of his behavior, he says (speaking now of his relations to 
a particular child), "Well, she would not let me have it " ; 
or " I wanted to be in the swing "; or " She was in my way," 
and so on. But the child with whom he plays always excuses 
herself if she injures him, by saying that she " did not mean 
to," or that he struck her first, or that he took her things 
away from her. She has already begun to appreciate that 
the treatment of an action usually depends upon the motive 
behind it ; but H. thinks that the gratification of his own 
desires is a sufficient justification for any act. 

It has been suggested that the individual in his evolution 
passes through a stage wherein he fancies that no penalty 



THE SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY 109 

should be attached to such of his actions as turn out badly 
if only they happen by chance. But he does not stop here 
long, for social forces keep working on him, and he is 
gradually made to realize, in a very obscure way at first, 
that he must suffer the ill consequences of accidents, espe- 
cially when they occur as the result of his " carelessness " 
or "thoughtlessness." Every moment, as he develops, the 
situation normally grows more complex with him ; and 
while he stoutly resists taking the " thoughtful " attitude, 
still this is in due course literally forced upon him to 
a greater or less extent. As his range of social contact 
increases he is penalized in a variety of ways for actions 
that result unfortunately, even if he did not intend evil in 
their execution. It seems hardly necessary to dwell upon 
the point that some children learn these lessons earlier, and 
more thoroughly and subtly, than others, largely because 
they have experiences in which the essential principles are 
constantly impressed ; but all individuals, except those that 
are sub-normal, learn them sooner or later. 

As the individual grows on into adolescence, the idea of 
responsibility for his actions becomes ever more prominent 
in consciousness, and at the same time the condi- Deveiop- 
tions determining responsibility become ever more ^n^e°of^a!. 
involved. In the beginning his feeling about an sponsibiiity 
act was dependent wholly upon its outcome ; he did not 
take into account the circumstances under which the act 
was performed. Then, through the character of the reactions 
of the alter^ he came gradually to feel that unfortunate 
results of his actions were not to be recorded against him 
unless he meant to produce them. Next, he slowly came to 
a realization of the fact that he must pay the penalty for an 
accident if he could have avoided it by being cautious, — 
by being more alert to the possible ill consequences of his 
acts. Incessantly, as he develops, he is called upon to justify 
his conduct on the bases of motive, carefulness, responsi- 
bihty. In all these experiences the notion of responsibility 



110 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

is impressed upon him, and the conditions under which he 
becomes responsible are at one and the same time defined 
ever more clearly, and made more and more subtle. At*nine 
he is made to feel responsible for a deed that results un- 
fortunately to any one, if he has in the past been warned 
against it or anything closely resembling it. He is held 
responsible for getting his lessons in school if the pupils in 
his class master theirs, and he is penalized if he fails so to 
do. In short, he is made to feel responsibility for perform- 
ing tasks and avoiding actions that the majority of the 
nine-year-old children in the community are, as a matter 
of tradition largely, assumed to be able to do. In every 
community there is a general sense of what should be ex- 
pected of children of different ages; and while this varies, 
for communities and teachers and parents, stUl the variation 
is slight after all. This "general sense" has been passed 
along from one generation to another since the beginning 
of human society, being modified to a greater or less extent 
by each generation, with the result that individual children 
are held responsible for what this tradition indicates they 
should be able to do. Then the child is often led to see 
the reasonableness of holding him responsible for a given 
act, though he may not acknowledge that he appreciates it, 
by showing him that his playmates are held responsible for 
similar acts. He may resist the adult's view of his respon- 
sibility, but he cannot long resist the application to him 
personally of a principle which he sees generally applied to 
the groups of which he is an active, vital member. 

The consideration of factors determining responsibility 
does not extend beyond the concrete self until 

71io sffcct 

of adoies- the adolescent revolution is well under way. The 
veiopment child of eleven or twelve never spontaneously ex- 

Tipon the cuses himself for a misdeed because of an inherited 
leellng of . . „ , . 

rosponsi- tendency to perform it. So he never justifies his 

^ low grades in school, or his failures, on the basis 

of a lack of inheritance of ability. Naively he regards him- 



ADOLESCENT CHANGES 111 

self, so far as natural gifts are concerned, as on a par with 
his fellows; and if he does not do as well as they, it is 
because of some accident, or some physical disadvantage 
operating against him. In this naive manner he assumes 
that all people are equal by birth, though as early as the 
age of five he appreciates that there are differences between 
his fellows in strength, in temperament, in helpfulness, and 
so on ; and later, by the age of eight at any rate, he sees 
that there are differences between his classmates in their 
abilities, as in reading, singing, drawing, speaking, etc. 
But still he does not go back to original endowment for his 
explanation or justification of these differences. He will 
talk of a stupid classmate as though he could be bright if 
he would try hard enough ; and while he does not ascribe 
his own failings to lack of effort, still he does not locate the 
trouble outside of himself, " I can't do it ; I don't know 
how ; I have n't had as much of that as the others," he will 
say, and more like it. 

But during the adolescent upheaval, when introspection 
develops with extraordinary rapidity, the individual often 
tries to make an inventory of his abilities, native and cul- 
tivated, and he readily comes to the view that he is what 
he is largely because of inherited powers and tendencies. 
In some of the adolescent autobiographies, one may read 
bitter denunciations of the general scheme of things that 
cursed the writers with ugly bodily features or mediocre 
talents, or what not. The child of ten could not take such 
a point of view, for the reason that he has no sense of a 
" general scheme of things " which shaped him physically 
and determined the measure of his abilities. He regards 
himself as he is, without questioning the circumstances of 
his origin. But these circumstances play a leading role in 
the adolescent's estimate of himself, and of his responsibility 
for living the sort of intellectual, aesthetic, and moral life 
that tradition imposes upon the groups to which he belongs. 
When he falls short of the standard as he sees it, he not 



112 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

infrequently avoids self -censure by laying the " blame " on 
the existing social order, or he may carry it back to his 
ancestors, his nationality, or his Maker. This does not 
mean that he fails to do his best to meet the obligations 
which rest upon him, thinking to place the responsibility 
for his deficiencies on others than himself. But when he 
feels he has made an effort which has not accomplished what 
the community expected of him, or what tradition standard- 
ized for him, then, to restore equilibrium among his own 
emotions, he may pass the problem of justifying his action to 
those who, as he thinks, conferred upon him his tendencies 
and capacities. At the same time he may assume responsi- 
bility for neglect to use to the full the talents or abilities 
he knows he possesses. He may also shoulder the blame for 
not acting in the present in the light of previous experi- 
ence, to the end that he might avoid past errors and seize 
opportunities for being of service to his fellows. 

In the daily life of the adolescent there is normally much 
strain and stress due to the individual's failure to adjust 
himself fully to a complex social environment, and his 
effort properly to locate the responsibility for this failure. 
It is probable that this tension is greater at twenty, say, 
than at forty ; since by the time the latter age is reached 
the individual has, as a rule, largely settled for himself the 
question of the extent to which his native equipment in 
physical, intellectual, sesthetic, and moral traits equips or 
disqualifies him for attaining the standards reached by his 
associates, and he worries less about his shortcomings than 
he did at a younger age. 

In the course of his development, and as a result mainly of give- 
and-take relations with his fellows, the child comes to realize that the 
alter has rights, which first must be and later ought to be re- 
spected in all relations affecting the welfare of the latter. 
The goal toward which the individual tends in social development is 
the point at which he will treat the alter as he does himself, in respect 
alike to rewards and to penalties. 

This sentiment of fair play or justice becomes embodied in ever 



RESUME 113 

more complex forms in the customs and laws of a community; and in 
compliance therewith all members of the community are, theoretically, 
treated impartially according to their deserts, though mercy may fre- 
quently temper pure justice. This equality of persons before the law 
is, however, recognized by the individual only as it pertains to the 
members of any given class. Thus the sentiment of justice in static 
societies often preserves social stratifications from efPacement or modi- 
fication. In plastic groups, on the other hand, it plays an important 
part in constantly altering class boundary lines. Capacity to do what 
society wants done, and faithfulness in the doing of it, are the most 
important desiderata in the determination of classes in our country; 
though wealth and ancestral connections play leading parts. 

The child is a bully by birth, and it is only through conflict, with 
resistance and retaliation from his social environment, that he makes 
his first social adjustments. As he comes into vital relations with the 
group, he sooner or later discovers that his aggressions will on the 
whole be resisted and even thrust back upon him, and so he learns 
that he must do as others do if he would get on well. The untaught, 
" natural " child assumes toward all objects of his desire an appro- 
priative or aggressive attitude. Only through a great deal of give-and- 
take contact with others do " mine " and " thine " come to be properly 
understood. Gradually there is developed the sense that objects " be- 
long " to particular people by virtue of their having had certain types 
of experience with them. ,• 

As the child is resisted in his attempts to gain possession of certain 
objects while he is not resisted in other cases, he comes in due course 
to differentiate goods into those that the alter will not permit him to 
have, those that he can secure by struggle, and those that no one 
makes any effort to prevent him from obtaining. Through almost 
ceaseless opposition to his demands, he discovers that what is given to 
others, what is bought by them, or earned by them, etc., he must not 
attempt to appropriate. In his conflicts with his fellows in respect to 
retaining goods once in his own possession, he is compelled to recog- 
nize certain fundamental property rights, and consciously to employ 
them in his appeals to his parents et al. Thus he slowly learns the 
principles that define for him what he may get and keep. 

With broadening experience new principles of ownership are gained, 
and old rules are continually modified. But there is conflict at every 
step forward; and the individual is brought in time to realize that 
there are no immutable rules determining ownership. In plastic soci- 
eties the rights of possession are in due course seen to depend upon 
the conditions which will secure equality of opportunity to the great- 
est number. 

Supplementing the negative instruction which has been sketched, 
the group reacts in a positive way, with a view to teaching the child 



114 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

to be just, commending him when he plays fair, and censuring him 
when he plays foul; and this serves, on the whole, to encourage just 
and discourage unjust deeds. This group reaction upon the individ- 
ual's acts continues from infancy to maturity, and normally it affects 
every aspect of his social adjustment. He is denounced by members of 
the group when he tries to take advantage, and he is praised when he 
shows fairness in his conduct. 

There seems to be an instinctive element in the attitude of justice, 
which is shown by even very young children in their sympathy with 
the weaker person in the contests they witness. The young child does 
not as a rule take account of circumstances in his reactions upon situ- 
ations arousing the sentiment of justice; he usually sides with the one 
in need of help, whether or not he is deserving of it. The feeling for 
fair play on the part of the child is not held in check until motives 
and extenuating circumstances can be reviewed. 

Before he acquires a sense of the need of equitable adjustment of 
relations, the child demands that rules be applied universally, irrespec- 
tive of persons or conditions, except where his own interests are im- 
periled thereby. The favoring of age in administering rules of justice 
is a matter of social, not physical, inheritance. 

In the beginning the child has no appreciation of motive or inten- 
tion in actions which affect him; he responds to them in view of their 
external character and their outcome. But with experience he learns 
to differentiate actions on the basis of his attitude toward the alter in 
performing them. He discovers that the alter reacts differently to ac- 
tions according to the intention of the actor in their performance. 

At the outset the child expects the alter will respond to his actions 
on the basis of their outcome. Then, as he is let off for accidental mis- 
haps, he comes in time not to hold himself responsible for deeds not 
done purposefully. But as his range of social contact widens, he is 
made to realize that he must suffer the consequences of his own care- 
less or even unfortunate, though not careless, action. As he grows on 
into adolescence, the idea of responsibility becomes more and more 
prominent, and the conditions of responsibility more involved. Before 
this time the factors determining responsibility are not considered as 
extending beyond the concrete self; but during the adolescent up- 
heaval introspection develops greatly, and the individual often takes 
account of his " natural " abilities and inherited powers and tendencies 
in estimating the degree to which he is responsible for what he does 
or fails to do. 



CHAPTER V 

RESPECT 

In popular thouglit, one will be " respected " only when lie 
observes, outwardly at least, in his public and private life 
the more important social and moral standards and Character- 
ideals of the group with which he has vital rela- jespect as 

tions. It is true that under certain conditions we asocial 

phenome- 
may respect persons who do not conform to the non 

less important (as we think) group standards of conduct ; 
but in such cases the individuals thus favored possess ex- 
ceptional qualities of some kind, usually marked strength of 
personality in certain particulars, which make it difficult for 
us to condemn or to ignore them. For example, the writer 
knows a man, a resident in a churchgoing community, who 
never participates in church services ; but nevertheless he 
is universally respected because he is absolutely frank, and 
yet considerate of the feelings of others, in the statement 
of his belief that he can do more good by spending his time 
in other ways than in attending church. And as he is an 
uncommonly forceful man, who serves his community in 
many directions, there is a general and yet definite convic- 
tion among those who know him that whatever he does cannot 
be seriously wrong anyway. Other men in the same commu- 
nity who do not observe the custom in regard to churchgoing 
are not highly esteemed by the faithful, since the former 
are not strong enough in other respects to counteract social 
disapproval for their lack of conformity in this particular. 
This is normally the way in a community where standards in 
reference to any action, even though conventional, are gen- 
erally observed ; the dissenter usually brings upon himself 
the censure of the group, though it is otherwise with the 
individual who can make his associates believe that in his 



116 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

nonconformity he is pointing the way to higher things. Of 
course, the reaction of a community, either in approval or 
condemnation of a person's conduct, may not be very dy- 
namically expressed ; respect is a much less definite, direct, 
aggressive attitude than others that we shall study presently. 
In passifig, however, it niay be remarked that men will as 
a rule express their attitudes positively and forcefully in 
reference to certain kinds of action which obviously affect 
social well-being profoundly. For instance, a cruel murderer 
will be dealt with in a direct and summary manner, since 
society realizes that if he or his type is left at large the com- 
munity itself will be destroyed. So the group will in a very 
marked manner commend a brave general who has per- 
formed some heroic service for his fellows, as when he has 
protected men in their lives and fortunes. In a more or less 
reflex way they celebrate his virtues in a conspicuous fash- 
ion, so that he and his kind may be prospered, and that 
others in the group may emulate him when the occasion 
presents itself. 

Rather striking examples of social and anti-social conduct 
have been mentioned, in order thus to illustrate the way soci- 
Respect Is a ©ty reacts upon the individual when it can see with 

restrained, jj-g ^^j^ eyes, as it were, that he is either a friend 

appreclat- j ' ' 

ive atutude or a foe of the community. But social or anti-social 

conduct in modern complex society is not ordinarily of a sort 
that appeals directly to the senses, and so stirs automat- 
ically the primal instinct of self-preservation. It requires 
rather obtrusive meanness on the part of an individual for 
the community to react vigorously upon him in the effort to 
protect itself, by checking or eliminating him. If an alder- 
man, for a consideration, gives away a valuable franchise in 
his city to a corporation, the community may realize in a 
way that by this act he has injured the social body ; but yet 
it does not seem to be a life and death matter. The anti-social 
deed does not occur on the instant ; and, moreover, " there 
are always two sides " to a question of this sort because of 



RESPECT AN APPRECIATIVE ATTITUDE 117 

its subtlety. Then a part of the community often cannot 
appreciate that a real damage has been done ; this form of 
evil is so new and elusive that its seriousness cannot be 
generally felt, and consequently it does not arouse deep 
feeling in all members of the community. When a murderer 
or felon or traitor or incendiary or horse thief (in some com- 
munities) is at large, practically every one can react strongly 
to him, for they can image what may occur if he is not sup- 
pressed. But it is different with the ward boss, or the boodler, 
or the employer of child labor, or the walking delegate, or 
the adulterator of food-stuffs, or the " high financier." As 
already intimated, the harm which these latter individuals 
do is not very concrete or obvious, and so it is not reacted 
to vigorously by the majority, perhaps, of the people. In 
the same way the man who is honest in politics and business, 
faithful in his marital relations, devoted to his filial duties, 
and true in all moral relations, may not, on account of these 
virtues alone, appeal to the impulsive emotions of his fellows, 
as does the hero on the battlefield or the football field or 
in the pestilence-stricken city. With much public display 
medals may be awarded to men who have performed service 
in these latter ways ; but rare it is that any demonstration 
is made in celebration of the achievements of a man who has 
taught a class of students, say, to be honest, and to practice 
the virtues essential to the highest welfare of the conununity 
in modern times. The latter form of service is too complex, 
it is too new, it is not picturesque enough to awaken an 
urgent feeling of approval in society. There may be some 
expression of feeling from certain of the man's friends ; but 
it will be quiet, non-demonstrative ; it will indicate approval, 
a friendly attitude, confidence, trust, good-will ; in short, the 
individual will be respected. 

It is a common saying, even in America, that the child 
should be trained to respect his elders and those superior 
to him in any way, or in authority over him, or representa- 
tives of the state or the church, or any institution regarded 



118 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

as sacred. It is the chief, perhaps the sole aim of the edu- 
Respect for cational system of many peoples, as the Chinese, 
Mid"Se5- *^^ Moors, the Eussians, the Italians, et al., to de- 
o» velop in the young respect for the established insti- 

tutions, and all who are connected with them. It is apparent 
what the role in the social drama of such a practice as this 
is ; it tends to conserve the existing order of things, and to 
insure to those in authority a continuance in the enjoyment 
of their advantages. Those peoples who are most insistent 
in demanding respect from the young for the civic and 
ecclesiastic rulers are, as a matter of fact, most stable, in 
the sense that the social order endures longest without 
change. Even among such a progressive people as the Ger- 
mans there is relatively slow social readjustment. Indeed, 
the existing institutions and social distinctions are at the 
present time undergoing but slight if any change, though 
there is a rising tide of feeling against the monarchical form 
of government, which tends to keep the favored few in 
positions of great privilege as compared with the masses. 
But this unrest is due mainly to the infusion of foreign 
views into German life. Englishmen, and Americans espe- 
cially, are responsible for much of the growing disrespect for 
the established order in Germany. The education of the 
young still tends to conserve respect for the emperor and 
everything he favors, and also for the church, though dis- 
cussion has already begun to spread among the people the 
conviction that this institution is not supremely worthy of 
homage, since there are many forms in which it presents 
itself, and these are themselves antagonistic to one another. 
In a German school to-day it is no uncommon thing to hear 
the Protestant church, say, held up for veneration in one 
classroom, and for derision in another. Children early take 
sides, each party presenting to the other the errors and 
shortcomings of his faith. Inevitably this tends to break 
down allegiance and respect, though outwardly the young 
may defend the cause they have espoused, and they may 



CONVENTIONAL PROPRIETIES 119 

conform to the conventional methods of showing apprecia- 
tion. But inwardly doubts and suspicions, aroused by the 
attitudes of associates, begin to develop, and they often 
strengthen until they destroy the original attitudes of re- 
gard and homage. 

But it is altogether different in reference to the training 
of the young to respect the state. From the moment they 
begin to understand any sort of instruction they are duly 
impressed with the greatness and majesty, and even the holi- 
ness, of the sovereign, and all who are the direct instruments 
of his will. In every schoolroom the mention even of the 
name of the supreme ruler is made an occasion for the dis- 
play of high regard by the pupils. The emperor's picture 
adorns many schoolrooms, and no opportunity is missed to 
awaken in the young lively feelings of appreciation of and 
devotion to him. There is no splitting up into antagonistic 
groups among the pupils, some manifesting regard for the 
sovereign and others maligning him. If there is any show of 
disrespect on the part of nonconformists, the offenders are 
quickly suppressed, so that their vicious influence may not 
be permitted to poison the minds of those who are well dis- 
posed. In this way, the young are kept in an attitude of 
what outwardly resembles respect for everything that per- 
tains to the state as it is constituted at the moment. In the 
same way, respect is developed for the rulers of the house- 
hold, — the father and mother, and all adult members of the 
family. 

But is this really respect ? or is it simply the observance 

of conventional proprieties? Are not "respectful" children 

very often simply those who are " civil " toward Respect vs 

those in authority over them, whether king^s, theobserv- 
• , . . o o 1 ance of con- 

magistrates, parents, teachers, or mmisters r feuch ventionai 

children make way before their " superiors," and ^"P'^*®"^^ 

respond to their inquiries with " yes, sir," and " no, sir "; 

while children lacking " respect " in popular usage do not 

apparently recognize any social distinction between those in 



120 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

authority and playmates. For a child to address his father 
as " sir," while he does not so address his brother, is usually 
taken to denote that he appreciates his father's excellence, 
and respects him for it. So, in the view of many people, 
children who are properly trained in the matter of respect 
will not interrupt their elders when they are talking ; they 
will give them first choice in every situation where there is 
an advantage in having the pick. 

It has been intimated in previous chapters that before 
adolescence children do not "naturally" take attitudes 
Respect vs. toward their elders or their rulers in the ways 
admiration j^g^; mentioned. A boy of seven, say, does not 
normally manifest homage spontaneously in the presence of 
his father because of the latter's excellence, except it be in 
the matter of unusual strength or courage or mechanical 
skill. So the child really does not in a true sense respect 
his father, no more than he respects any one else. He may 
admire a noted athlete or pugilist or an engineer or a fire- 
man, but he cannot be said to respect him. So the deference 
he shows to those in authority is generally the result of 
fear, originally at least, though it may be, at the age of 
seven, say, largely a matter of habit, thus having no sig- 
nificance for the attitude of respect so far as the child's con- 
sciousness is concerned. What outwardly may seem to the 
onlooker to be an indication of recognition by the child of 
moral excellence in the one to whom he makes obeisance, 
may often be only a recognition of the wisdom of maintain- 
ing such an attitude for his own welfare. Not excellence 
but chieftainship in a superior is the real motive for assum- 
ing the obeisant attitude, if an untaught child can be said 
to be ever really obeisant. He may be polite outwardly, 
which will give the appearance of being respectful, but 
inwardly there will be a profound difference between the 
two attitudes. A boy of seven, say, is not yet aware, except 
in a very obscure way at best, of standards of conduct 
insisted upon by the community, and to which all for the 



THE MEANING OF SELF-RESPECT 121 

common good should conform ; and he is not critical in 
detecting whether those about him take cognizance of such 
a standard. His concern with people has reference primarily, 
not to their observance or negligence of ethical standards, 
but to their ability and willingness to help him achieve his 
ends, or to entertain him or to keep out of his way. 

With these introductory words upon the general attitude 
of respect, we may turn now to a consideration of the atti- 
tude of self-respect. This latter term implies that „^ 

. . !(. 1 • The mean- 

one can, on occasion at least, view the self objec- ing of self- 

tively, and take attitudes toward it in certain ^^^^^'^ 
situations as he would toward the alter in similar situations. 
It has already been said that, in the process of development, 
it comes about that the self and the alter are, allowing for 
minor exceptions, judged by the same ethical code ; though 
it was stated that, in times of crisis, the individual will 
ordinarily favor self as against the alter. However, there 
is a more or less prevalent view of the relation of the ego 
and the alter which may be mentioned best in this connec- 
tion, for it has a vital bearing on the attitude of self-respect. 
This view maintains that the genuinely ethical person will 
allow others larger freedom of action, in contravention of 
community-standards, than he will allow himself ; that he 
will overlook in others transgressions which he will not 
condone in himself. People sometimes say they cannot toler- 
ate in the activities of the self certain kinds of dissembling, 
as in ordinary society relations, for example, which they 
may regard as permissible on the part of the alter if he can 
feel justified in his own conscience. This view undoubtedly 
reflects the trend of the advance guard in ethical evolution, 
but it is probably not truthful to the situation as it actually 
exists among us. It indicates that the race is making a 
supreme effort to develop in the individual the disposition 
always to exact of the self what he exacts of the alter ; and 
in order to put a prize on self -discipline, the latter is some- 
times in public representations exalted above its true status 



122 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

at the present stage of ethical development. There is little 
need for society to urge the individual constantly to demand 
that the alter live up to community standards, for it is 
"natural" for one to make insistence of this sort. But it is 
necessary for society to urge the individual to deal rigidly 
vsdth the self, which, as we have seen, is not as easy for 
most persons as to deal rigidly with the alter. People then 
stimulate and encourage and sustain themselves and one 
another in what they know to be ethically ideal by professing 
that they have more rigorous standards for self than for the 
alter; but this is a matter of aspiration mainly, if not wholly, 
for in their daily adjustments they do not seem to show 
adherence to these higher standards, which seek to keep 
the self completely under control, restraining it in its ego- 
istic and driving it onward in its altruistic tendencies. The 
instinctive and habitual inclination of the individual is de- 
cidedly in the direction of favoring the self ; but his con- 
scious striving, his ideals, look toward holding the self to strict 
conformity to the highest social rules he knows, while leaving 
the alter to the discipline of his own conscience. Perhaps 
in certain instances this conscious ideal may have become 
stronger and more compelling than original tendencies, with 
which it must be in continual conflict ; but if so, it is un- 
doubtedly rare, so rare, indeed, that it may be practically 
ignored. 

From what has been said above, it must be apparent 
now that respect and self-respect develop ^aW^assw; and 
Origin of tli6 same must be true also of the negative atti- 
oi* iV""^* tudes of disrespect and shame or mortification or 
respect contrition. When a child manifests disrespect for 

another on account of any act or attitude, he will tend to 
feel mortification or shame when he perceives himself in 
the same situation. So when he reaches the stage when he 
can assume the attitude of respect toward the alter for his 
social or ethical conduct, then he can assume somewhat the 
same attitude toward the self under similar conditions. It 



ORIGIN OF SELF-RESPECT 123 

is very probable that an individual cannot feel either pleased 
or the opposite with the self, in respect to actions and atti- 
tudes which are of indifferent value as viewed in the alter; 
and the converse is unquestionably true. For instance, a boy 
of five is quite unmoved at the sight of soiled hands or face 
or clothes in the alter, and he feels no shame or humiliation 
whatever when his parents or nurse call his attention to his 
own unclean condition. It is the common thing for parents 
to attempt to shame their children at every meal on account 
of their soiled hands and face ; but their efforts to arouse 
attitudes of self-condemnation fail utterly. Day after day 
and year after year the same efforts are made by the parents 
with the same outcome, until in the process of development 
the ideal of physical cleanliness commences to be established 
among the child's system of values, when he will manifest 
displeasure at the sight of uncleanness. And as soon as he 
begins to appreciate this ideal with reference to self, he 
begins to appreciate it also as desirable in others. 

In the early years cleanliness in a companion is not a trait 
which the child counts for or against him at all, unless he 
be extremely offensive, so that he is a source of physical 
annoyance, to the sense of smell mainly. The aesthetic or 
hygienic feeling of the child of five, say, is very rarely out- 
raged by the condition of his companions or any of his 
associates. It is true he may notice a very dirty face or a 
badly torn and soiled suit, but he regards them mainly as 
objects of curiosity. He does not assume a repellent attitude 
toward them, though he may repeat current conventional 
condemnatory phrases taught him by his mother or nurse. 
Not until the adolescent period is reached, and sex appre- 
ciation and feeling is awakened, does the individual become 
genuinely responsive to neatness, cleanliness, etc., in appear- 
ance. Before this he must be urged to attend to his toilet 
so as to conform to conventional practice ; but it is an 
arbitrary matter wholly with him, and unless constant 
pressure be applied to him he will relapse into his original 



124 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

indifference to personal appearance, and he will not feel 
humiliated if he is detected with dirty hands or clothes. 

One rarely sees a child before the adolescent period 
ashamed or mortijled or humiliated or even chagrined. 
Appearance There is no evidence that remorse or contrition is 
tudesof^^ felt before this time. The child may be annoyed 
shame, and sorry and suppliant^ and the like ; but these 
tion, latter attitudes, which are aroused in direct ad- 

seu-e"teem j^^^tment to objective conditions, are quite different 
etc. from the former, which show subjective feeling 

with discipline of the self. A child may be suppliant as a 
matter of expediency, but not show the least inclination 
toward self-condemnation ; one can tell by looking at him 
that he is merely doing the thing which he feels will at the 
moment save him from trouble. Instantly the indignant 
parent or nurse or teacher is appeased, the child assumes 
his wonted attitudes, in which he shows no consciousness of 
having transgressed any rules. But it is otherwise with the 
expressions of the mortified individual. His social environ- 
ment may change, but he may remain unchanged until the 
subjective difficulty into which his transgression has plunged 
him can be cleared up. As you watch the adolescent who 
has been made ashamed, you can see that, unlike the seven- 
year-old who has had exactly the same experience in out- 
ward features, his attention is wholly subjective and his 
emotions centrifugal in direction. He is not now studying 
the attitudes of the alter^ so that he can return to his ac- 
customed self-confidence and self-assertiveness as soon as 
the latter relents in his resentful expressions ; on the con- 
trary, he is endeavoring to adjust his recent action to his 
ideal of what he should do, which ideal has been established 
in the manner worked out in preceding paragraphs. In the 
same way a child may before adolescence be vain of his 
possessions, or some article of adornment, as a ring ; or he 
may be haughty or overhearing ; but he shows none of the 
attitudes attendant upon feelings of self-approhation or 



THE CHILD'S REACTION TO REPROOF 125 

honor or esteem or veneration. That is to say, the self as an 

object to be respected or condemned does not play a part in 

the individual's feelings and attitudes before the adolescent 

epoch. 

It is suggestive to note how unconcernedly children from 

the age of two or three to eleven or twelve receive reproof 

and criticism which miaht stir an older person „^ ^^,^, 
, * . , , . . . The child's 

very deeply. Sometimes one is placed in situations reaction to 

where he is compelled to witness a teacher, parent, '^^*"° 
or other person attempting to arouse shame or remorse or 
contrition in a child, by charging him with offenses against 
fair play or trutlifulness or decency or honor. The older 
person, even as an onlooker, may feel the sting of the 
rebukes given, but the child is liable to react as he may 
think best in adaptation to the immediate situation. His 
attention is likely to be wholly objective, so that the chiding 
does not strike in as the one who administers it expected it 
would. The child is apt to rebound the moment the criti- 
cism ceases, in which respect he is strikingly different from 
the adult, who would either feel abased or indignant, ac- 
cording as he thought the charges just or otherwise. Chil- 
dren before adolescence do not strongly feel resentment 
toward those who ascribe to them more or less serious 
deviation from social, ethical, and moral standards, in which 
regard they are again very different from the adult. This 
must mean that the child does not realize that the self is 
seriously injured by such charges of social alienation. It is 
true that a child as early as the fourth year wUl usually 
deny when accused that he has violated any rule of conduct 
which has been impressed upon him, mainly because of the 
attitude of the one who blames him. He feels, rather in- 
stinctively, that he should resist any one when he is in that 
peculiar attitude toward him which is seen in one who is 
charging another with some transgression. It does not 
make much difference to the child what the content of the 
charge may be ; the featural, vocal, and bodily attitudes 



126 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

are what give the victim his cue as to the sort of reaction 
he is to make. I can assume the attitudes of one who is 
charging another with lying, and then accuse a six-year-old 
of having studied his lessons in school faithfully, and he 
will assume the negative or resistant attitude, thinking that 
I must be censuring him, and if he does not repel the 
charge he will be penalized. 

The child before adolescence does not mind seriously 
what people think of him, except as their estimate is ex- 
Tha child's pressed definitely in very concrete actions affect- 
indiiference j^g j^-^ immediate welfare. The boy likes to be 
reputation spoken well of on the playground for his skill, 
siuce then he will be permitted to play in prominent positions 
in the group games. He likes to be talked about as a daring 
fellow, who cannot be frightened ; and to be made the leader 
of the group is a coveted honor, for which he will sacrifice 
much, and undergo ordeak of considerable rigor. At the 
same time it wiU annoy him to be caUed a " tittle-tattle," 
or " coward," or " quitter." However, his attitude in such 
a case is a combative or angry one, rather than one of 
humiliation, whether he be guilty or not. It approaches 
more nearly to humiliation the older the boy gets ; until, in 
the high-school period, for one to be called by his fellows 
a prevaricator or talebearer, or to be given any other term 
of reproach, may cause him keen pain of the humiliative 
type, unless the victim feels he has been unjustly accused, 
when his attitude will probably be one of indignation and 
antagonism. 

This suggests how much more highly the adolescent values 
"reputation" — his ethical, moral, and social rating in the 
eyes of his fellows — than does the child. One reason doubt- 
less is because the former has come to see more or less clearly 
that his well-being along every line depends upon his keep- 
ing the confidence and good-will of his associates, while the 
child, being under the care of his parents, does not really 
need to secure the confidence of those about him, except in 



INDIFFERENCE TO REPUTATION 127 

respect to his playfellows. But it is otherwise with the ado- 
lescent, who is looking forward eagerly to the time when 
he will play an independent role in social life, at which time 
he will prosper or fail according as he does or does not have 
the confidence of his associates. 

It is significant that the typical boy of seven or so has 
little desire to stand high in his studies or deportment in 
school, unless there is some concrete and very tangible 
reward therefor, such as a prize, or excuse from attending 
all the exercises of the school. He does not care for the 
reputation he gets in respect to intellectual abilities or be- 
havior ; and the efforts of the teacher to appeal to the boy's 
desire to be a " good and intelligent man like his father " 
prove futile in the great majority of cases. There is nothing 
within the child's experience which would enable him to re- 
spond to such an appeal. It is true that pupils, especially 
girls, from about the tenth year on are sometimes eager to 
get good " marks" in their studies ; but it is probable that 
in doing so they wish, more or less unconsciously, to win 
the good-will of the teacher and to avoid her scolding, 
rather than to gain the admiration of their schoolmates. So 
they do not experience true ethical or moral pride any more 
than they experience shame. They may assume the general 
attitudes produced by these emotional states in older indi- 
viduals ; but such attitudes are aroused in view of outward 
and physical rather than ethical situations. 

It should be noted, however, that as the individual de- 
velops he can scarcely avoid having experiences wherein, 
through repetition, it is made evident to him that certain 
sorts of conduct are naughty or had or mean or low or vul- 
gar and the like. And the individuals who are guilty of 
such actions are declared not to be " nice " or " respectable " 
or " decent," and people must let them alone, or not show 
them favors, or invite them to parties, or share playthings 
with them, and so on. This expression of disapproval of 
evil doing, which is going on in the presence of the child 



128 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

much of the time, makes him feel that it will be to his dis- 
advantage if anything of the kind is charged upon him. So 
he comes to resist vigorously whenever he is accused ; and 
gradually he acquires a hostile attitude toward the one who 
accuses him, much as he would he angered at one who 
would strike him or otherwise injure him. The ten-year-old 
can hardly realize that his good name or his reputation will 
be blasted when misconduct is charged upon him ; he only 
feels in a general sort of way that if an accusation against 
him is left to stand he will suffer for it in some concrete 
manner. It is not on account of his eagerness to protect 
the self from moral or ethical injury that he reacts with such 
vigor against his accusers, but only that he does not want 
their indictments to rob him of any definite advantage he 
was enjoying before the charges were made. It is needless 
to add, possibly, that the transition from this stage in social 
development to the stage when the individual's reactions to 
accusations always occur, in view of strong feeling for the 
preservation of the self against ethical debasement by the 
alter^ is very gradual indeed; but it should be emphasized 
that there is such a transition, and when it has been accom- 
plished the individual reveals in all his expressions the 
change that has been wrought. It is of importance to note 
in this connection that we do not often hear the phrase, " a 
self-respecting child," which indicates that people have ap- 
parently not noted in the young the attitudes which are an 
indication of regard for the ethical self, and of intense feel- 
ing of the humiliative type when it falls below the ideal of 
conduct set up for it by the individual. 

Our discussion thus far has led us to see that the atti- 
The attitude tude of respect is one mainly of appreciation; 

of respect is \^ \^ qq^ essentially dynamic. The child who 
taken In _ . .,.«.. 

view prima- loves a friend will normally manifest his affection 

motives It in very definite objective ways ; and the principle 

action applies in respect to his feeling of hatred, and the 

like. But when he reaches the point where he begins to re- 



ATTENTION TO MOTIVES 129 

spect or disrespect his father or other person, he is likely 
to grow subdued in his expression. The situations which 
call forth the latter attitudes are not so simple and well 
defined as in the case of the former ones ; and they con- 
cern motives rather than the outcome of action, or the ex- 
ternal attributes thereof. Then as the individual acquires 
the tendency to go back of the actions of people to the feel- 
ings which prompt them, and take his attitudes in view of 
what he finds in the springs of conduct ; as he inclines to 
take account of intentions rather than results in the con- 
duct of the alter, he grows naturally into the attitude of 
respect or the opposite. With broadening experience he 
comes to see more or less clearly that what is of real conse- 
quence in the alter is good, true purpose, and faithfulness 
in the performance of duty under all circumstances ; and 
the man who can be trusted may be respected and honored, 
while the one who is not sound at heart merits only dis- 
trust and contempt. So the sentiment of respect concerns 
mainly the springs of conduct ; if they are pure in any par- 
ticular case we respect the individual in question, even if 
the outcome of his actions is not always such as we might 
wish. But if the fountains of conduct are tainted we will 
put no further trust in the individual, for even though he 
may for the moment be in harmony with ethical standards 
of action, still we could not depend upon him if he should 
see an opportunity to take advantage of us. We can count 
upon the man whose motives are right, though he may be 
crude and ill-advised in some of his relations ; but we must 
always be on our guard against the sly, deceitful person, or 
he may stab us when our back is turned. Respect for a 
man gives us confidence in him, while we are suspicious of 
the one whom we cannot respect. 

As the chUd grows into the adolescent period and becomes 
ever more subjective in his tendencies, inevitably he begins 
to give attention to the motives behind his own conduct. 
As he queries whether the alter is faithful, to the end that 



130 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

lie can be trusted, so he inclines, ever more largely with 

development, to ask the same question of himself. 

ence of If he Can answer it in the affirmative, he can have 

develop!"* confidence in his own integrity, in which case the 

ment upon o-eneral character of his conduct will reveal his 
the attitude t> 

of self. sense of congruity with social and ethical ideals, 
xespect . 1 . 

He will resent a suggestion from any one that he is 

not worthy of the trust and confidence of his fellows. His 
very bearing will show that he is vitally conscious of the 
self in its relation to the ethical standards of the community. 
One cannot detect in the expressions of a ten-year-old any evi- 
dence that he is affected by a contemplation of the status of 
the self with respect to these standards. He simply lives his 
life of adjustment to concrete situations, in a wholly non- 
subjective or non-reflective way. But it is very different 
with the twenty-year-old. One can see in his attitudes clear 
testimony that the self has been made the subject of reflec- 
tion ; and the results thereof determine how the self reacts 
upon the alter' s expressions. The aim in this reflection is 
always to survey the self in view of the felt standards in the 
community. If such an examination shows that the self is 
not a transgressor, the individual will assume toward the 
alter an attitude of assurance or courage. He will feel that 
he is " as good as others " ; he has " nothing to be ashamed 
of"; his "conscience is clear." But if in his introspection 
he finds that he falls below the standards which he imposes 
upon others, and which are represented in public as binding 
upon all, then he will tend to treat the self in some such 
way as he treats the alter when the latter is found guilty. 
He will hesitate to go freely among his associates. He will 
be uncomfortable when he is with them, and he will not 
exhibit his accustomed courage and freedom until he has ex- 
piated his sin, or until he has forgotten it, and regains the 
feeling that he is again in harmony with the moral stand- 
ards of his community. 

If the alter be found guilty of a shameful deed, the indi- 



THE LOSS OF SELF-RESPECT 131 

vidual will express his disapproval thereof in some more or 
less dynamic way. He will not simply \i2iYQ feeling in refer- 
ence to the offender ; he will strive to turn public sen- The 
timent against him, or he willref use to have relations the^indi- 
with him, or he may deal directly with him, inflict- J^^ll^^y. 
ing upon him physical injury, or condeming him " to respect 
his face," thus hoping to humiliate or mortify him. But when 
the seK is detected in the performance of a shameful act, the 
only dynamic attitude that can be taken is a penitential 
one, in which the individual inclines to punish the self in 
some manner, by stripes, by fasting, by prayers, and the like. 
Normally this attitude is actually taken, thus showing that 
the self and the alter are judged by somewhat the same code. 
In its essential characteristics the attitude is one of moral 
disintegration, a weakening of the assurance of the self in 
relation to the alter. Loss of self-respect is then essentially 
a loss of confidence and courage in social adjustments. As 
one who has lost his self-respect is in a hostile attitude 
toward self, so he fancies the alter assumes the same rela- 
tion toward him, and he succumbs, except when he makes a 
supreme effort to resist the destructive influence of social 
condemnation, when he may become brazen and militant, a 
situation to be considered later. 

The expressions just noted are rarely if ever seen in chil- 
dren before adolescence. The ten-year-old boy may wilt under 
the condemning gaze or speech of one who knows he has com- 
mitted an offense against decency or fair play; he may be 
confused and embarrassed while his accuser is present to 
his senses ; but he will recover the moment there is a change 
in the one who condemns him. This is not the case though 
at sixteen and after, for then a feeling of mortification will 
endure after the one who occasioned it has disappeared. 
When shame is experienced by the adolescent his whole 
organism is unhappily affected, even the physiological pro- 
cesses, and the disturbance is not easily or quickly over- 
come. 



132 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

It is probable that the individual cannot suffer in this 

manner until the adolescent revolution is well under way, 

and consciousness of sex has emerged. When sex 

TII6 6ff6Ct 

upon the appreciation makes its advent, it gives tone and 
seif-«speot color to most if not all of the individual's senti- 

of the de- ments. To a very important extent, the adoles- 

velopment , . . 

oi sex ap- cent thinks of self in terms of the reaction of the 

precia on opposite sex ; though if this reaction indicates 
lack of confidence, or disdain, contempt, and the like, the 
individual may resist it, and he may seek for reasons to sus- 
tain the self against its defamers. But sooner or later the 
attitudes of the other sex will play an important role in de- 
termining his estimate of himself, in respect to moral and 
social qualities particularly. Moreover, the relations of sex 
greatly enlarge the range of personal attitudes, and give 
rise to sentiments which have had no existence heretofore, 
since there has been no function for them to perform. The 
evolution of these subtle sentiments gives a new direction 
to the individual's feelings and renders them far more sub- 
jective than they were before this epoch. Normally the 
adolescent is most eager to seem to be of consequence in 
the world, to have merit in the eyes of those whose good- 
will and confidence he greatly desires. 

In brief, as soon as the individual experiences strong at- 
tachment for one of the opposite sex, he cannot avoid feel- 
ing deeply that he should be worthy of this one's affection 
and trust. This leads him to a searching of heart and to 
an examination of motives, such as the ten-year-old never 
undertakes, and the results of this experience determine 
whether the adolescent will in contemplation of himself 
have self-respect or the opposite. If he is conscious of not 
being worthy, but if at the same time he is earnest in his 
intentions to be better, to live up to the standards which 
those he admires expect him to do, then he will assume the 
attitudes of contrition and humility. As he views his past 
he may be overcome with shame or mortification or remorse ; 



R^SUMlfi 133 

but as he looks forward he may see himself a different indi- 
vidual, one who will realize in his thought, feeling, and 
action the ideals which he has set for himself, because they 
are prominent in the estimate of him held by those whose 
sentiments are of chief concern to him. True humility is, 
perhaps, the most complex and subtle of all the individual's 
attitudes, and so it is never seen until toward the comple- 
tion of the developmental process. 

As a general thing a man will be respected by his associates only 
when he observes, outwardly at least, in his public and private life the 
more important moral and social standards and ideals of the px-Qj-x 
group with which he has vital relations. Respect is a less 
definite and direct attitude than most of those the individual assumes 
in his social adjustments ; it is a restrained and appreciative rather 
than a demonstrative and dynamic attitude. 

Among some peoples a supreme effort is made to develop in the 
young respect for the established institutions of church and state and 
their representatives. Such peoples are more stable, but less plastic, 
than a people like the Americans. Also their children show more 
respect for parents, teachers, ministers, and the like than do our chil- 
dren. However, what may outwardly sometimes appear to be respect 
is nothing but observance of conventional proprieties. Again, a boy's 
admiration for an athlete or engineer or other person who "does 
things " is often regarded as respect for him, but the two attitudes 
are essentially different. 

It is sometimes said that a genuinely ethical person will grant to 
the alter larger freedom of action in contravention of community 
standards than he will allow himself, and that he will overlook in 
others transgressions which he will not excuse in himself. But this is 
a matter of aspiration mainly ; in order to urge the individual to treat 
the alter as he does the self, the ideal of holding a higher standard for 
the self than the alter is purposefully overemphasized in public appeal. 

Respect and self-respect develop pari passu. The individual cannot 
feel pleased or otherwise with the self in respect to actions which are 
viewed indifferently in the alter; and the reverse is equally true. Be- 
fore adolescence children are rarely ashamed or mortified or chagrined. 
They may feel annoyed or irritated, but they do not experience re- 
morse or contrition. Their attention in social adjustment is always 
objective. They do not view the self in its relation to the social and 
ethical standards of the community. 

Young children recover immediately from reproof or censure which 
might profoundly affect an adult, whose self-respect would be deeply 



134 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

wounded. Children are quite indifferent to their "reputation," in 
which particular they are the direct contrast of the adult. However, 
a child may resist accusations of wrongdoing because he feels that if 
he lets it go he will suffer some concrete disadvantage. 

Kespect is an attitude taken in view primarily of motives rather 
than the outcome of actions. Children cannot assume this attitude, 
then, until they begin to take account of the intentions of the alter in 
his conduct. Respect for a man gives one confidence in him, while we 
are suspicious of a person whom we cannot respect. At adolescence 
the individual begins to regard the self in the light of the motives 
behind its attitudes, which inclines him toward self-respect or the 
opposite. 

Loss of self-respect involves loss of courage and confidence in social 
adjustments. These expressions are rarely seen in children before ad- 
olescence. The development of sex appreciation at adolescence gives 
rise to attitudes of shame and the like, which may profoundly disturb 
the entire organism. The individual who, viewing his past, sees moral 
standards broken, but who at the same time earnestly desires to con- 
form to these standards in the future, will assume the very complex 
attitudes of contrition and humility. 



CHAPTER VI 
DOCILITY 

In preceding chapters attention has been directed to the 
individual's readiness in appropriating the experience of 
others, when he sees clearly that it can be of The child 
service to him in accomplishing the ends for which ^^ ^ learner 
he is striving at any period in his development. It has been 
pointed out that the child prefers as companions those who 
are capable of teachmg him how to perform tasks which he 
is endeavoring to master. In general, the boy who can 
organize a new game is preferred above one who has no 
ingenuity in this respect, unless, indeed, he is a noteworthy 
leader in other ways. If he be superior in any form of ath- 
letics within the range of the child's abilities, the latter 
will ordinarily make a favorite of him. We have noted, 
further, that in the early years the individual is not strongly 
attracted by intellectual or moral superiority in his associ- 
ates, so that he does not normally choose playmates who 
can instruct him in regard to these matters. That is to 
say, the young child does not assume a learning or docile 
attitude toward certain aspects of his social environment, 
while he is distinctly in such an attitude with reference to 
other phases thereof, those presenting opportunities for 
acquiring acts involving competitive or constructive activi- 
ties within his sphere of appreciation and execution. He 
is usually eager to follow after any leader who excels in 
games, or who is skillful in making a kite or a boat, say. 
So, too, he will learn readily enough from one who can 
show him how to whistle, as an example, or to perform 
tricks requiring the dextrous use of any member of his 
body. 

Boys who can turn a somersault or handspring or the 



136 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

like easily becomes leaders, and readily acquire a following 
of companions in an assimilative attitude. Again, skill 
(crude, of course) in playing the simpler musical instru- 
ments will make a boy prominent among his fellows, 
though this does not apply as a rule to the more complex 
instruments, especially the piano, until the adolescent revo- 
lution is well under way ; and even then the expert musi- 
cian will attract only a few choice learners. But one may 
observe in any community that young boys gravitate to- 
ward an associate who can play the jew's-harp, or mouth 
organ, or drum, or bones, and they neglect no opportunity 
to practice these instruments for themselves, and to secure 
the leader's help in learning the coveted art. Once more, 
the child is always in a docile attitude toward his elders, 
and in general his protectors, whenever he ventures into 
the world among people or things that are strange to him. 
Often children who persist in "having their own way" 
in the home will be utterly compliant and tractable when 
they go into the city with father or mother or any older 
friend. However, as they grow to feel at ease in any situa- 
tion, they tend normally to become more independent in it, 
and less responsive to the suggestions of those whom they 
once obeyed implicitly. Strangeness, fear, danger appear to 
awaken the instinct of docility in the young ; while in the 
youth or the adult they might stimulate attitudes of cour- 
age or defiance. 

But while the child is by birth a learner in respect to 
the sorts of activities and situations just indicated, he is in 
His attitude ^ quite different attitude toward most of the social 

toward conventionalities and the culture to which the 

most of the . , 

culture and adults of the community attach supreme impor- 

ttons°o7°°' tance. From Plato down all observers of the 
society young have noticed the reluctance of children to 
adopt the customs and " manners " of society ; they strenu- 
ously resist the imposition upon them of the " polite " atti- 
tudes generally assumed by the adults about them. As a 



THE CONVENTIONS OF SOCIETY 137 

general thing, pressure must be applied continuously in 
one way or another until the adolescent period is reached 
in order to compel a child to observe conventionalities in 
respect to speech, dress, toilet, and so on, which are uni- 
versally observed by the grown people in his community. 
It normally requires great patience to teach a boy to be 
" civil " to his superiors ; he naturally resists instruction of 
the sort, and follows it only when he reahzes that he wiU 
be heavily penalized if he fails to do so. As a rule, boys 
must be trained for a long period to do such a simple thing 
as to lift their caps to ladies, and often instruction must 
be reinforced by physical stimuli applied repeatedly before 
the boy comes habitually to observe this formality. So in 
respect to most of the customs of an hospitable, sesthetic, 
hygienic, and reverential character as found in the drawing- 
room, the dining-room, the school, the church, and so on. 

These conventions are for the most part expressive of a 
certain amount of courteous deference, and at the same time 
of reserve in the relations of adults ; but the atti- convention 
tudes they demand in their observance seem not as a load on 
to harmonize with the tendencies of the child. In operative in 
assuming these attitudes the adult cannot be said ''^*^*^°°* 
to be really spontaneous ; he is more or less formal, and to 
a certain degree restrained, and it may be artificial. He 
observes the major conventions whether or not at the mo- 
ment he experiences the emotions of which they are natu- 
rally the expression. He will under ordinary social condi- 
tions often assume attitudes of respect and friendliness, 
even though he feels otherwise. At the same time he will 
hold in check his impulses to come into physical rapport 
with those who awaken his emotions of affection, except 
under certain conditions where restraining customs are 
not operative. That is to say, the adult has, through his 
conventions, brought himself into outward conformity to 
the more important practices of society, even though in- 
wardly he may be greatly at variance therewith. But the 



138 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

child's inner and outer attitudes tend normally to be con- 
gruent. If lie feels anger, it is as a rule immediately put 
out into correlated motor adjustments. So if he feels 
friendliness, or doubt, or envy, the subjective state is 
embodied in appropriate outward expressions. When he 
bears affection toward an individual he is likely to express 
it by striving to embrace the object of his emotion, or to 
fondle or play with him in some way. On the other hand, 
when he feels antipathy toward a person he is apt to en- 
deavor directly either to punish him or to put him out of the 
way. In any case, feeling tends to lead him into some sort 
of immediate physical contact with the objects inciting it ; 
whereas in adult life the observance of conventions serves 
in a way as a barrier to keep individuals physically apart, 
and to prevent the direct expression of strong emotion. 

As the individual enters the adolescent period, and his 
range of personal adjustment is much enlarged, with the 
The h i^esult that new and more and more complex and 
atafloies- vital relations come to be established between 
himself and his associates, then he begins to feel 
the meaning and value of ceremonious conduct, which may 
as occasion requires express friendly or hostile relations 
without direct physical contact, or convey to the world at- 
titudes which are not actually felt. As the current of life 
broadens, and the slumbering impulses are aroused, there 
is gradually forced upon the individual the realization that 
immediate, primitive expression of feeling is inadvisable in 
a large proportion of social situations, and so he more or 
less readily adapts himself to customary modes of inter- 
course. The adolescent sees with some measure of clearness 
that the stability and peace of the community require that 
individuals assume conventional attitudes of affection, or 
respect, or deference, or antagonism, rather than to give 
way to unrestrained or unmodified passion, which is char- 
acteristic of the child. The youth cannot fail to appreciate 
that a society of adults, where emotion should be expressed 



ADOPTION OF SOCIAL CONVENTIONS 139 

as bluntly as it is among children, would be one in which 
there would be constant conflict and disorder, as there is 
indeed in groups of children. 

So the individual must subdue his feelings, and give 
them vent only in the general ways which all may practice. 
This serves to preserve individuality to a certain extent ; it 
protects the self in its isolation, and yet it permits of suf- 
ficiently intimate intercourse so that the advantages of 
communication and cooperation may be secured. The point 
is that the child will assume a docile attitude toward the 
conventions of which those mentioned are typical only as 
his expanding life makes him feel their value, and really 
their necessity. At seven, say, he appears to have no real- 
ization of their utility, though there may be dawning upon 
him the conception that if he observes them he will get on 
more happily with the people around him, and they will 
favor him in a variety of ways. The "polite" boy will 
probably be commended by his parents and his neighbors, 
though he is not likely to receive the approval of his asso- 
ciates, who have not reached the point where they esteem 
" politeness " as a desirable quality in a leader. Normally 
the child up to adolescence is relatively incapable of noting 
the advantages to be derived from the observance of social 
customs ; the tide of his buoyant life runs so strongly toward 
expression of social feeling that he is more or less indif- 
ferent to the attitudes of adults in their reaction upon his 
conduct in this respect. 

It is important in this connection to note the behavior 
of the child who is coerced by those in authority into 
adopting the social conventions indicated. Here The process 
is a boy whose mother is teaching him to remove "a^g^ooiai 
his hat, let us say, to the ladies on the street. At convenuons 
the outset he normally resists ; he says he does not see why 
he should be made to do it ; and when he neglects the thing 
he excuses himself by saying that he could not remember 
it, or that it was impossible for him to perform it, when 



140 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

his real reason was his unwillingness to conform to the 

convention. One may hear boys of six or seven discussing 

among themselves this custom as a typical one, and they 

often ridicule it, and declare they will resist efforts made 

to compel them to observe it. An unpracticed boy does 

not "feel like himself" when he attempts it; it is not in 

accord with his habitual adjustments in such situations. It 

is as though he were assuming the personality of another, 

which, if he did it spontaneously, he could assimilate with 

his own personality ; but when he is coerced into it there is 

a conflict with the old habitual self, which does not coalesce 

readily with this new self as modified by adult convention ; 

hence the peculiar reaction. There is discord at this point 

in his evolution between the child's real attitude toward 

people, and that which is urged upon him by his trainers. 

If left to himself, he would not adopt this to him peculiar 

mode of social expression, until he reached the place in his 

development where it would very clearly have value for 

him in facilitating his adaptations to the people around 

him. He would then be in the docile attitude in respect to 

it, but not before. 

The child's efforts to assimilate conventions forced on 

him are attended by rather extraordinary outward demon- 

The child's strations, which are doubtless the reflex of the 

upMi'Mn- incongruous and perturbed inner states. In popu- 

ventions J^p phrasinsT, he does the conventional thing half- 
forced on r o' & 
him heartedly. He may go through the process, but 

nevertheless he is in a resistant attitude toward it. Out- 
wardly it seems that his personality is split in twain, one 
part contesting with the other. When the individual per- 
forms an act that is, as we say, " normal to his nature," his 
entire being proceeds in a unified manner in its expression, 
the aim being to concentrate the whole organism in all its 
movements upon the task that is to be accomplished. But 
it is otherwise with an act which he performs as a result of 
social pressure. This he ^oes not treat respectfully. He 



EEACTIONS UPON CONVENTIONS 141 

scoffs at it ; "makes fun " of it ; does not try to do it just 
as the adult does, but exaggerates some aspect of it, or in- 
troduces ridiculous features on his own part. He does not 
give himself to it. The attitudes are more or less antago- 
nistic ; now he tends to resist, and now to conform. In a 
situation of this sort the individual is not dynamic ; his 
enei'gy is not concentrated into any one expressive channel. 
Throughout the child's development, when he is being co- 
erced into the adoption of adult conventions, he manifests 
this peculiar attitude, showing his lack of docility with 
reference to them ; but still he may choose to conform to 
many of them rather than to suffer the penalties of non- 
conformity. 

On the other hand there are some conventions, as putting 
on a napkin at the beginning of a meal, for instance, that 
some children will resist for a considerable period, several 
years often, even though they are " scolded " three times 
every day, and perhaps sent away from the table. In the 
majority of American homes doubtless there is more or less 
conflict over "table manners," until the last child gets 
started on his adolescent reformation. It is, of course, 
somewhat different in countries where from the beginning 
the child is kept under, and regularly penalized for any 
infraction of rules or neglect of conventions. But even at 
a German, English, or Italian table, where children are 
given a chance to show their natural inclinations, one may 
see how slow they are to adopt adult manners, and how 
they resist them if they feel they have a show of gaining 
their own way. 

It is significant to observe the methods of the parent, the 
teacher, or the minister in dealing with children in their 
indifference or hostility to such social conventions as have 
been mentioned. The child may go just far enough in any 
instance so that he can say he has complied with the com- 
mand laid upon him, but usually he has only partially 
conformed, and in spirit he may have been in a resistant 



142 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

attitude constantly. The parent then may say, " Why don't 

you do as I wish you to ? " " Why are you not more in 

earnest ? " " Why do you take this thing as a joke ? " and 

so on through a long list of fault-finding questions, all 

directed at the lack of appreciation of the necessity of 

being serious and faithful in the performance of an act. 

Even when the child "does what he is told "without much 

resistance, he may still fail to execute an action as his 

elders do, and up to the measure of his own abilities, if he 

is given any freedom to follow his inclinations. He will 

take advantage of any opportunity to have fun, at the risk 

of not thoroughly, completely, and accurately performing 

his task. His attitude in such cases is not one in which he 

seeks to imitate an adult model as closely as he can ; but 

he tends rather to pursue his own immediate play interests. 

That is to say, the child is not normally, in respect to most 

of his activities, in the learning attitude, in the sense that 

he will strive to emulate the adult in his serious activities, 

in order that he may achieve the results which the adult 

endeavors to attain. The child's interest in what the adult 

does is for play purposes only, and so he is satisfied with 

mere suggestion ; and to be obliged to conform in all 

details proves a hardship, and is resisted. In his play the 

child really is more of an originator or inventor than a 

slavish imitator, which makes precise correspondence with 

adult models distasteful. 

Before leaving this point, it should be noted that when 

the individual assimilates any convention so that his feeling 

„^ , is agreeably expressed thereby, then he becomes 

The learner o j r j ■> 

turned a teacher of those who have not yet accepted it. 
He comes to insist upon its adoption by his asso- 
ciates, and he may be unsparing in his criticism of those 
who neglect or refuse to conform. This can be clearly 
observed in respect to table manners, which we have already 
frequently cited. Here is a boy who at seven needed to be 
prompted at every meal in regard to the proper use of the 



ATTITUDE TOWARD THE WISE 143 

napkin, the fork, the right bodily attitudes, and so on ; and 
he never appeared grateful to his instructors. But now at 
twelve he disciplines his yoimger brother regularly for these 
same offenses which he has outgrown, and which he con- 
siders to be of serious consequence for the welfare of the 
family. He does not hesitate to ascribe rather vulgar traits 
to his brother for just such behavior as he thought alto- 
gether proper a few years earlier. He is not inclined to be 
charitable in his demands ; indeed, he is considerably more 
summary and insistent with his brother than his parents 
were with him when he was in his brother's stage of de- 
velopment. So one who will follow a boy from his fifth year 
on through adolescence may observe that, while at five he 
ignored certain conventions, at fifteen he may be a great 
stickler for these same things, and he may gather about 
him groups of his former companions, who have not pro- 
gressed as far as he has, for the purpose of teaching them 
his accomplishment. Of course, this is not done in a delib- 
erate manner ; but nevertheless the tendency of the indi- 
vidual is to impress his customs, as rapidly as he acquires 
them, upon all his associates. This can be observed at any 
time in reference to such matters as the particular mode of 
doffing the hat, the style of the handshake, and the like, 
but the principle applies to all the more subtle and involved 
conventions as well. 

Is the child then normally in a docile attitude toward his 
elders, simply on the basis of their having had greater ex- 
perience than he, and so understanding better the ig the cwid 
dangers as well as the opportunities in the world ? f^^'^j^ ^^ 
This attitude is seen in the majority, perhaps, of wise? 
adults with reference to some, at least, of their adjustments 
to their environments. The young man of twenty-five in- 
clines, as a rule, to sit at the feet of those who are very 
evidently his superiors in the field of activity in which he 
is particularly interested. What Socrates did in Athens, 
every great teacher since his time has done to some extent 



144 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

at least. Let it be known among men that a certain man 
has acquired greater wisdom than his fellows in respect to 
any vital phase of life, and that he is willing to impart his 
wisdom to others, and he can gather about him a band of 
young men who will be completely in an assimilative frame 
of mind. They will wish to learn, to profit by the wise man's 
experience and views of life. But how is it with the boy of 
three, say ? We have already noted that the child seeks aid 
in reference to his concrete, dynamic life from all persons 
who may serve him. Even at the tender age of three leader- 
ship begins to play an important role in the individual's 
social adjustment ; and it is always determined on the basis 
of unusual courage, or superiority in games or constructive 
skill. The children in any neighborhood will gravitate to- 
ward one of their number who has insight and skill above 
the average much more readily than they wlQ incline toward 
a child of only mediocre ability. 

Children as early as the age of five will largely ignore a 
fellow who has no qualities of leadership, unless he can be 
made use of to practice on by his more aggressive compan- 
ions. In order that a leader may gratify his ambitions, he 
must be attended by followers who will do his bidding. It 
is true he will not so often go to them as he will bring them 
to him ; but he will appear to have an interest in them 
merely because they are essential to the realization of his 
ends. In a case of this sort it is not possible to detect the 
slightest evidence that the leader assumes an attitude of 
docility toward his followers, as they do toward him, and as 
he will assume toward any person whom he regards as a 
leader. Thus the child normally is at one time a learner, 
he is docile ; and at another time he is a teacher, or a bully. 
What he gains by suggestion from his superiors he attempts 
to work out on his inferiors. So while he may play second 
fiddle to the leader in his school, he may be an autocrat 
with the boys on his own street, or with the younger chil- 
dren in his home. Throughout his whole developmental 



THE CHILD'S KOLE AS LEARNER 145 

career lie reveals this tendency to practice what he is learning, 
though with development there comes a change in respect 
to the relative prominence of the learning and the practicing 
attitudes. Not infrequently the young autocrat in the home 
or on the playground becomes a humble learner as a youth of 
twenty ; while a timid follower at five may come to assume 
the role of autocrat at thirty. Biography presents numerous 
illustrations of this transformation, though it is impossible 
to say what proportion of children pass through this meta- 
morphosis. 

Answering the question asked a few paragraphs back, we 
may now say that normally the child does not, ex- „^ ^„^. 
cept in certain ways to be indicated, play the role atutude 
of learner to his elders, whose experiences have in^tV"^" 

been vastly broader than his own in respect to *y^"^*?^ 

•^ ^ , rather than 

social adjustments. We have noted that the child assimUa- 
as early as three is eager to learn from his father 
how to make a toy, or take a clock to pieces, or skate, or 
whistle, or perform any definite, concrete act within his range 
of appreciation and execution ; but even so he assumes this 
docile attitude only in order that he may get a suggestion 
as to how to perform the task, when he at once abandons 
his docility. For example, a father and his four-year-old 
son are out driving. The boy wishes to take the reins, and 
guide the horse. He must be shown how to grasp and hold 
them ; but the moment he catches the elementary notion 
of how the thing is done so that he can execute it even 
crudely and imperfectly, he ceases to be docile. He wants 
now to proceed in his own way. He tends normally to resist 
further instruction, provided he can at all do the thing in 
hand. He is not eager to perfect himself in the details of 
the process, as his father wishes him to do. What he seeks 
to do now is to take the initiative in execution ; he strives 
to try on the general suggestion he gained at the outset, 
and make particularizations of his own. As he goes on in 
his development and comes into situations where his crude 



146 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

work will be penalized, lie may then place himself in the 
learning attitude again, in order that he may perfect his 
execution up to the point where it will not be a disadvantage 
to him. But the moment he reaches this point he reverts to 
the executive attitude, even though he is still quite deficient 
in the eyes of his superiors. So throughout the develop- 
mental process, the assimilative and the executive attitudes 
alternate with one another ; but the latter is the more promi- 
nent and urgent in the individual's adjustments to the skill 
and culture which exist in his environment. 

The most striking illustration of the child's indocility is 
seen in his attitude toward the advice of his elders regard- 
ing his conduct in certain physical and ethical situations. 
Practically all young children actively resist, or are largely 
indifferent to, the efforts of adults to make them take 
proper precautions to preserve their health. Note, for in- 
stance, the incessant conflict between the young and their 
parents in the typical American home in respect to the bill 
of fare and the manner of eating. The parent says to the 
child that this or that article of food will do him harm in 
some way, but the chances are that the latter will eat it if 
he wants it, unless the parent forcibly restrains him. So in- 
struction is given regarding thorough mastication, but the 
child may bolt his food as though he had been advised not 
to chew it at all. In the same way he is normally quite im- 
pervious to the advice of his elders respecting all matters of 
personal hygiene, — keeping the clothing dry, preserving 
an erect posture in sitting, avoiding irregularities and ex- 
cesses in eating and drinking, guarding against exposure to 
cold, and so on ad libitum. 

The observing parent knows that if he would cause his 
counsel on these matters to become effective, he must usually 
make it very evident that severe penalty will immediately 
follow failure to comply with commands. Even then children 
generally learn only by trial what they may and what they 
may not do, so far as their physical well-being is concerned. 



ETHICAL AND MORAL INSTRUCTION 147 

A striking instance of this is seen in the prevalence of cig- 
arette smoking among boys, despite the opposition of prac- 
tically all adults in the community. However, as their range 
of experience increases, and they discover that the instruc- 
tion in reference to special matters given them by their 
elders has proven to be sound, they tend to place greater 
confidence in whatever advice is offered them from this 
source, until in the course of maturing they may come to 
feel that their own experience has been as broad and valuable 
as their teacher's, when they are likely again to abandon the 
docile attitude toward the instructors of their childhood and 
youth, though they may stiU preserve the learning attitude 
toward certain new-found teachers whom they regard as ex- 
ceptionally wise. 

Turning to the child's docility in regard to ethical in- 
struction, we see that he does not willingly sit at the feet 
of his elders and learn from them what is good indociuty 

and what is evil in social adiustments : on the ^^*^ "" 

•> . , spectto 

contrary, he makes strenuous efforts to impose his ethical 

. . I'll TT 1 • Ml instruction 

own conceptions on his elders. He desires, we wilJ 

say, to attend the theatre in the evening. His parents know 
from their experience that this would not be well for him ; 
but if he be given leeway he will with extraordinary persever- 
ance endeavor to convince them that no harm could come 
to him from this act, but only benefit. In the majority of 
situations of the sort indicated the parents must put their 
experience into effect by main force. The child of tender 
years is little influenced by the parents' assertion that he 
will see the rightfulness of such and such a course when 
he is older, nor can he see the point of such a statement as 
"your father knows because he has lived longer than you," 
and so on. As a rule the child is quite unwilling, and per- 
haps unable, to appreciate the character of any of his own 
actions as viewed from the adult standpoint. 

As pointed out above, the individual as he develops comes 
to have more and more confidence in the adult's opinions 



148 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

in regard to some of his adjustments ; but in ethical and 
moral situations there continues to be more or less conflict, 
at least until the individual approaches maturity. Father 
and son often disagree as to the question of sowing wild 
oats; the young man is unwilling to accept his parent's 
judgment in the matter of his forming regular habits, living 
a temperate life, and the like. In the same way, the young 
woman often disagrees with her mother and her chaperone 
as to what she may do with propriety. In the university, 
for instance, there is much conflict between students and 
faculty in respect to the freedom of conduct of the former. 
The students as a whole are not ready in seeking and fol- 
lowing the advice of their elders, so that prohibitive and 
coercive laws must be made by the latter and enforced on 
them. 

The principal reason, no doubt, why the adult and the 
child so often disagree respecting the conduct of the latter 

_. , ,. is because the former has observed the more or 
The Inevita- 
ble conflict less remote as well as the immediate consequences 

child and oi actions, while the child takes account of their 
the adult (Jirect outcome only. An immature individual 
cannot cast forward into the future very far, because he 
has not yet orientated himself with respect to the past. 
He is, indeed, a citizen of the present. If, then, any act 
wiU yield him pleasure at the moment, this it is that wiU 
determine its worth for him, rather than that which may 
happen a year, and especially fifty years, hence. It is inevi- 
table, therefore, that the adult should be in conflict with the 
child in regard to much of the latter 's conduct, with the 
result that the child is often suspicious, we may say, of 
the former when he offers his advice. Consequently, the 
child cannot maintain a docile attitude, for the reason that 
he cannot appreciate that the adult has his interests always 
at heart. 

What usually impresses the child most in the reaction 
of the adult upon his conduct is the latter's opposition to 



DOCILITY IN THE SCHOOL 149 

his plans ; and this opposition seems unreasonable, and 
ought to be contested so far as expedient. But as the child's 
life expands, as he gains a body of experiences so that the 
adult can appeal to his remembrance of the outcome of ac- 
tions in the past, and as he can point to the experience of 
others, showing what the consequences of specific actions 
have been, then he can often lead the learner, the youth, to 
see the wisdom of his decisions. Thus the youth and the 
adult grow constantly nearer together, until it happens that 
the former will come to receive hospitably, and even to 
seek, the advice of his elders so far as they have anything 
to offer him beyond his own experience which may be of 
service to him. Then when he exhausts the wisdom of the 
people immediately around him, he tends normally, if he 
continues to develop, to go to the wise men of all times for 
counsel. But this occurs only in the last epoch of his 
development, when his attitude is in direct contrast to that 
assumed in his first stage of social evolution. 

Let us glance now at a special phase of the general pro- 
blem before us. At four or five the boy is sent to school, for 
the purpose of causing him to assimilate as much Dociuty in 
of the culture and experience of the race as he tiie school 
may have time to appropriate. What attitude does he nor- 
mally assume, alike toward this culture, and toward the one 
who has organized it and seeks to impart it to him ? If you 
observe him in the kindergarten you will find that he is in 
a docile attitude only in about the same way that he is out- 
side. He is eager to gain from the teacher any aid in respect 
to the playing of games, or the use of the blocks in con- 
structive exercises, and the like ; but the moment he catches 
the suggestion of how to perform a given process he will 
not receive further instruction without some protest. His 
chief interest is in execution, and he assumes the learning 
attitude to the end simply that he may get the cue thereto. 
As a result of his eagerness to take the executive attitude, 
there is likely to be more or less conflict between himself and 



150 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

his instructor, when the latter insists that he should improve 
in his technique in reference to these processes. The teacher 
must make use of every means at her command to help the 
child to see that if he would perfect himself in the method 
of what he is doing, he could derive more pleasure from it ; 
he might become able to do it as well as his fellows ; they 
would not ridicule his work, and so on. The novice usually 
cannot appreciate that it will be of distinct advantage to him 
to keep on learning how best to execute his tasks. 

The young pupil is not fully, perhaps not even largely, 
in a docile attitude toward the teacher as the possessor of 
wisdom greater than his own. If the teacher simply says to 
him, " It will be better for you in the future if you now 
learn to do your constructive work more accurately and 
substantially and aesthetically than you are doing it," she 
will make but slight impression upon him. In reality he 
does not feel the truth of what she says. The only thing 
that will affect him is concrete evidence that he wiU be the 
gainer if he continues to assimilate the instruction of his 
teacher. So he passes on into the elementary school, and 
exhibits precisely the same attitudes as in the kindergarten 
toward most of the situations in which he is placed. The 
teacher may attempt to arouse him to action by telling him 
that he should study so that he may become a wise and 
useful man, but her words will fall upon deaf ears as a rule. 
However, if she presents his numbers, say, so that in acquir- 
ing them he is enabled to play a definite game better, or 
measure the objects around him, or carry on processes of 
buying and selling, and so on, he will be likely to assume 
the learning attitude ; indeed, he may become eager to 
appropriate the teacher's knowledge and skill. Otherwise 
he will be indifferent, or hostile, and he wiU learn only in 
order to avoid penalties, or to secure extraneous rewards. 
It is not difficult to find schools in which most of the pupils 
are in this indocile attitude toward practically all that is 
offered them. They are not sympathetic toward the teacher 



THE BROADER RANGE OF EXPERIENCE 151 

as the representative of the wisdom of the race; they do not 
take his point of view at all. From their standpoint the 
tasks assigned them are unjust, and it is entirely legitimate 
to escape from them whenever possible. Probably the ma- 
jority of the pupils in any ordinary school, as at present 
conducted, would be truants if they dared to be. They do 
not of their own accord remain in the school so that they 
may assimilate the wisdom of their elders, but only that 
they may save their skin. 

As development proceeds, and the range of experience 
is broadened, it results of necessity that even the majority 

of individuals should come to see more or less _ ,,,. 

Docility as 

clearly the bearing of some if not all the studies afieotedby 
of the school upon their prosperity in after life, ing expa- 
Within and without the school there is talk of '^^^'^^ 
the need of arithmetic, say, for success in every form of 
business. Particular persons in the community are pointed 
out as instances illustrating the results either of the mas- 
tery of numbers or the lack thereof. Scarcely any child can 
avoid hearing it said, or reading, that the persons who are 
required to work at hard labor are those who did not apply 
themselves in the schools as they should ; while the people 
occupying the better positions, and who have been more 
successful in the battles of life, are those who were diligent 
in the school, and so mastered the studies which have proven 
to be of inestimable service to them. Thus even though a 
boy in the seventh grade, say, does not see just how his arith- 
metic relates to the business he wants to engage in, never- 
theless he cannot remain indifferent to the representations 
constantly made by the people about him. As he comes to 
feel the serious character of life, and realizes that he must 
ultimately pull his own oar, his resistance to study in the 
school is gradually broken down, and some inititative at 
least in attacking the tasks of the classroom is acquired. 

Of course, this principle as indicated will not operate in 
the case of pupils who react upon an environment in which 



152 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

the dynamic life outside of the school presses in constantly 
upon their attention, and tends strongly to attract them to 
itself. In a situation of this sort, the school wiU seem to be 
a thing apart from the realities about the pupU. It will not be 
apparent that what is gained within its walls will be of help 
in the world of action. If there should be a direct relation 
between them it would be so subtle and remote that the 
pupil could not trace it. By the time he reaches the eighth 
grade or the high school, the call of the practical life will be 
compelling, and he will be in a more or less indocile attitude 
toward much, if not everything, that goes on in the school. 
The moment the pressure to hold him in school weakens, he 
wiU gravitate toward the shop or the store or the counting- 
room. 

On the other hand, the boy whose attention is filled with 
college life, which allures him, and who is made to realize 
that in order to participate therein he must master the 
work of the school, will assume a docile attitude as a pupil, 
and will actually tend to seek aid wherever he can find it. 
It is otherwise, of course, with the recalcitrant boy whose 
parents have a college career in view for him, and who 
urge him against his own desires to prepare for it. This 
latter boy will not be in a docile attitude in the school any 
more than the boy who is dominated by the practical life, 
and he wiU need to be driven to his work constantly, for 
he cannot take his parents' point of view, and so he cannot 
evaluate things as they do. The principle holds without 
qualification for the individual even in college. If he is 
there as a result of his own inclination, he wiU be teach- 
able ; he wiU sit at the feet of his instructors, since it may 
be by assimilating their wisdom his own course in life will 
be made easier, or at least he may be able to attain his 
ends more effectively. But the boy who remains in college 
because his parents compel him to attend, or who is eager 
simply for the social advantages of student life, will be in 
a hostile attitude toward all that is done in the classroom, 



THE DRAMATIC TENDENCY 153 

and he will seize every opportunity to devote himself ex- 
clusively to the interests which appeal to him more strongly. 
We may now glance finally at a special docile attitude 
which has been several times mentioned in other connec- 
tions, the attitude of imitation.* In previous dis- 

,,.,,, Imitation as 

cussion attention was called to the child s ten- a method of 

dency to imitate those who perform activities in *"^ ^ 
which he is interested ; and it is apparent that this is one 
way in which he may appropriate the experiences of his 
elders and superiors. It is evident that the process of imi- 
tation is not essentially different in outcome, but only in 
method, from other forms of the learning process which 
have been described. A child of three is constantly imitat- 
ing the more elementary, concrete activities going on about 
him, — those relating to the playing of simple games, the 
execution of bodily acts, and the like ; the more complex 
activities of his elders and superiors do not become focal 
in his attention at all. And as in his learning in general, 
so in imitation, when he catches the suggestion of the fun- 
damental process in any act, he passes over from the assim- 
ilative into the executive attitude in respect to it, and he 
continues to practice it until he discovers in one way or 
another that it would be to his advantage to modify his 
execution in the attempt to make it more like the model in 
detail. Throughout the entire developmental history of any 
act learned imitatively, in the restricted sense in which we 
are using the term, the individual makes progress by alter- 
native execution and assimilation. 

All observers of children are agreed that whatever other 
tendencies they manifest, they are at least much ^j^^ 
given to dramatizing, from the second year, at dramatic 
any rate, on to adolescence, and in a continually 
decreasing degree up until maturity is reached. ^ In their 

^ This subject is mentioned briefly here under the head of Docility ; but a 
separate chapter is devoted to it later, chap. xvii. 
^ This tendency is discussed in detail in chap. xvii. 



154 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

dramatic activities they are in effect in the learning atti- 
tude, though without any intention on their own part to 
assimilate the attitudes of their models. It is within reason 
to say that the supreme passion in every normal child's life 
is to impersonate not only the people about him, but also 
the animals, and even the plants and the inanimate objects, 
though the latter do not incite the dramatic attitudes to any 
appreciable extent, since they are relatively static. It is the 
active objects about him, those that react in a variety of 
apparent ways upon their environments, that stimulate the 
child to repeat their reactions. Now, in reproducing the 
adjustments of any object, the individual undoubtedly ac- 
quires an understanding of the object which he could not 
acquire in any other way. All the complex sensations expe- 
rienced in striving to assume the attitudes of an animal or 
another personality in reacting in its peculiar fashion upon 
a given situation really constitute the basis for understand- 
ing the thing, for appreciating its individuality. Then when 
the child carries out the programme of an assumed person- 
ality, he of course gains something from his experience ; he 
perfects himself in the performance of the acts which are 
peculiar to his model ; and thus he learns. Though his 
dramatizations are always in make-believe, still one may 
see that they exert an influence upon his habitual attitudes. 
Take, for instance, K.'s dramatic representation of her 
teacher in some of the typical schoolroom situations. K. 
endeavors to portray Miss E.'s voice, facial and bodily at- 
titudes, and the like, as they have impressed her ; and it 
can be seen that by frequent repetition these attitudes tend 
to replace to some extent those characteristic of her own 
personality. Happily, the teacher is not the only one she 
personates, so that no single personality can establish itself 
in K.'s attention and motor tendencies to the exclusion of 
other personalities. It is probable, however, that this is just 
what would happen if K. should be shut up with this one 
teacher, all other personalities being excluded. The princi- 



R^SUM^ 155 

pie involved has universal application, with the result that 
the individual in the early years probably learns more 
through his dramatizations than through any other of his 
docile attitudes. 

The young child is always in a docile attitude toward a person who 
can teach him how to play games, or perform any task in which he is 
interested at the time. Boys who are good in athletic activi- , 
ties, or who are skillful on the simpler musical instruments, 
or who can lead the group in its marauding expeditions, can easily 
gather about themselves bands of followers who will be in the assimi- 
lative attitude. Children are usually in a docile attitude toward elders 
and protectors whenever they go among strangers, though they may 
not be at all compliant in their own homes. 

Children strenuously resist the imposition on them of the " man- 
ners," the " polite " attitudes generally observed by the adults about 
them. In general, the child does not assume a docile attitude toward 
most of the conventions of society, until as his range of social contact 
increases he sees that the observance of these conventions is essential 
to his well-being. If he cannot see this, he usually remains in a resist- 
ant attitude toward many of the customs of the community in which 
he lives. 

The adult may not spontaneously observe the conventions in effect 
about him; but he generally feels the necessity of bringing himself 
into outward conformity to the practices of society, no matter what 
his subjective attitude may be. But with the child, expression and 
emotion are more likely to be congruent, so that he acts as he feels, 
which is unfavorable to the recognition of conventions. But at adoles- 
cence the individual begins to hedge himself in with the customs 
observed by his community. 

When a convention is forced on a child he becomes adept in finding 
excuses for not adopting it. At the same time he tries to influence 
every one around him against it, by ridiculing it and all who observe 
it; or if he does partially conform, he easily shows that it goes against 
the grain. In the case of certain conventions pertaining to conduct at 
table, in the drawing-room, and the like, the boy especially must be 
exhorted to their observance day after day and year after year until 
adolescence is reached. 

When the child does adopt a convention, he then makes an effort to 
impose it on his associates. In all his representations concerning it, he 
seeks to magnify its worth, to the end that his practice may become 
universal. Children always attempt to practice on inferiors what they 
learn from superiors; toward the latter they will assume docile atti- 
tudes, but with the former they will play the role of a bully. 



156 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

Normally the child does not assume a docile attitude toward his 
elders, whose experience has been vastly greater than his own in re- 
spect to social adjustments. Whenever he does play the part of a 
learner, it is only to catch a suggestion, which he will proceed to work 
out in his own way, without being willing to learn all his superior 
might teach him. The child's attitude is always a dynamic and exec- 
utive rather than an assimilative one. 

The child usually resists instruction relating to his health, ethical 
action, and the like. He generally attempts to impose on his elders his 
own views in relation to these matters. This difference in point of 
view, due to difference in experience and capacity to foresee the more 
or less remote as well as the immediate consequences of actions, gives 
rise to a great amount of conflict between the child and the adult. 

In the school the child is docile toward those who can instruct him 
in constructive activities and the like, but he does not before adoles- 
cence readily assume a learning attitude toward the accumulated cul- 
ture of the race. He will become receptive toward the work of the 
school only when it is made very evident that it will be of service to 
him in his practical, concrete life. Otherwise he will learn only to 
avoid penalties or to secure extraneous rewards. 

With development the individual as a rule discovers sooner or 
later that his welfare depends upon his mastering the subjects taught 
in the schools, and then his resistant attitude will give way before an 
assimilative one. However, if the work of the school, or the college 
either, be wholly of a formal character, remote from the practical life, 
the individual may never assume a receptive attitude toward it, but he 
will escape from it as soon as pressure from without is removed. 

Imitation is perhaps the most important method of learning in 
childhood. The dramatic tendency is especially prominent in the early 
years, and by means of it the individual masters his social environment 
more effectively than he could in any other way. 



CHAPTER VII 

RESENTMENT 

Immediately upon his entrance into this world, the infant 

reveals his discomfort in characteristic vocal and bodily 

demonstrations. But one who will observe his re- The infant's 

actions and listen to his* cry will find no evidence *^"^*® ** * 

t/ non-iesist- 

that he is in an angry attitude toward any one or «it one 
anything. He does not even protest against the treatment 
he receives ; he is not at all hostile or resistant toward his 
environment. His vocal expression is at first entirely undif- 
ferentiated ; but the people responsible for his care interpret 
it to denote that he is in distress, and is pleading for their 
assistance and protection. The writer has, on a number of 
occasions, noted the response of adults to the cry of new- 
born babes, and they have uniformly regarded it as a pe- 
tition, or perhaps a prayer ; in no instance has any one felt 
that it indicated opposition to the persons or things about 
him. Physicians generally are quite unmoved by the squall 
of the new-born, for they consider it to be altogether reflex, 
and so not a genuine manifestation of the babe's actual 
evaluation of his novel experiences. But it is otherwise with 
the mother and the bystanders, who read meaning into the 
squall, whether or not it is really mechanical. 

For several weeks the babe's expressions, as they are in- 
terpreted by his caretakers, reveal no hostile attitudes of 
any kind ; he simply appeals for help when he is cold or 
hungry or otherwise ill at ease. During these weeks he 
shows no sign of anger in the true sense, and no tendency 
to resent anything that is done to him, though when his 
experiences are disagreeable he will manifest his disquietude, 
and beg for relief. But in these expressions he does not 
seek really to coerce the alter or to resist him ; he endeavors 



158 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

simply, as a matter of instinct, to awaken his feeling of 
compassion or sympathy or pity. The babe in these earliest 
efforts at social adjustment shows no disposition to " stand 
up for his rights," or to strive to gain what he desires by 
arousing fear in those who minister to him. He takes no 
offense at what people do in his presence, though if they 
cause him pain he attempts in his naive manner to awaken 
their tender feelings so that they will desist, and even make 
reparation for the injury they have done him. Of course, 
this all happens without conscious Appreciation on his part, 
but it is none the less meaningful and effective on this ac- 
count. His attitude of supplication secures for him, as a rule, 
the willing services of all who are affected by his expres- 
sions. 

When now does he begin to manifest a different attitude, 
one in which he reveals opposition to the persons or the 
The earliest ^^i'^s^ with which he has relations? Most observ- 
expression ers of children have noticed that the cry of anger 
becomes differentiated to some extent as early as 
the twelfth week, and it is probable the child assumes by 
this time the attitudes denoted by this expression. There is 
no mistaking the expression; when the child is angry he 
reveals it not only in a peculiar dynamic quality of voice, 
but manifestations similar in meaning occur in his arms, legs, 
and body as a whole. Usually the angry infant " straight- 
ens his body out rigidly," ^ though he may never do this on 
any other occasion. He impresses the observer as taking a 
resistant or defiant attitude toward those who have in some 
way opposed him, and so have aroused his hostility. The 
strangely irritating and compelling character of his vocal tim- 

^ " In the fourth month," says Tanner, " anger is certainly shown, the face 
and head hecome red, and the cry shows irritation. . . . Anger at this early 
age is simply the instinctive rebelling against pain." — Op. cit. p. 216. 

Perez says of the young that " when about two months old, they begin to 
push away objects that they do not like, and have real fits of passion, frown- 
ing, growing red in the face, trembling all over, and sometimes shedding 
tears." — Op. cit. p. 66. 



THE EXPRESSION OF ANGER 159 

bre when he is in this frame of mind is potent in producing 
reactions in those who hear it, either to serve him in the 
way he wishes, or to administer pain in the attempt to pre- 
vent him from further demonstrations of this kind. Under 
modern social conditions, these manifestations of anger seem 
usually to render the alter subservient ; it is probable that 
adults generally aim to avoid those situations which arouse 
anger in young children, because of the disturbing effects 
of their expressions upon the sensibilities of those who must 
listen to them. 

The attitude of anger seems to be earliest aroused as 
a result of the child's experiences with his food.^ He will 
sometimes fly into a rage when his bottle is taken from him 
before he is satisfied, or when the parent is slow in giving 
it to him after he has caught a glance of it. In such in- 
stances the anger ceases with very young children the moment 
the food is secured, though this is not always the case with 
older children, as we shall see presently. As the child 
develops, the occasions for outbursts of anger seem nor- 
mally to increase constantly up to the time at least when he 
gains such facility in locomotion that he can go about freely, 
and himself secure the objects he desires, or perform the 
deeds in which he is interested. 

Unless suppressed by the hostile reactions of his parents 
or governess, the typical year-old child is in a tantrum a 
considerable part of his waking hours, since his iphg typical 
desires far outrun his ability to secure their grati- ^^1°}^ 
fication. In a way, as the range of his interests angry much 
broaden, the worse his lot becomes, for his ca- 
pacity to obtain what he wishes does not develop as rapidly 
as his needs and desires. However, if he be successful in 

^ " The causes or conditions of ang'er or impatient crying' on the part of 
the infant may be divided into four classes : (1) when the gratification of an 
instinct, like suckling, is thwarted ; (2) when a pleasant sense-experience is 
interrupted; (3) when the child's purposes are crossed; (4) when an injury 
is associated in the child's mind with the idea of its cause." — Major, The 
First Steps in Mental Growth, p. 118. 



160 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

getting instanter whatever he wishes, because of the atten- 
tiveness of his elders or the limited range of his desires, he 
will not be apt to assume the attitude of anger frequently. 
But according to the observations of the writer, it is practi- 
cally out of the question to satisfy the demands of the un- 
restrained child of a year old. Even in homes where there 
is a retinue of anxious attendants, there is still likely to be 
much display of anger on the part of the children, for it 
seems impossible for any one to gratify their wishes in every 
detail. The pretext need be very slight indeed in order to 
throw the unafraid child into a state of fury. And the 
greater the efforts that are made by those who serve him 
to comply with his requests, the more irritated and hostile 
he often seems to become. The child who, from the stand- 
point of the adult, ought to be very contented and grateful 
because of the pains that have been taken to provide him 
with " everything that he could desire," is the very one who 
may be in a temper much of the time. Here again is an 
irreconcilable conflict between the views which the child 
and the adult take of the opportunities and privileges en- 
joyed by the former. 

It may appear commonplace to say that the angry atti- 
tude is assumed by the young child only when he cannot 
The de- realize his desires, or when he suffers pain caused, 
oJ resent- as he thinks, by some person or object. With the 
mentasa young child inanimate as well as animate objects, 
emoUon if they seem to deprive him of any pleasure, wiU 
arouse anger. A child of two years will become furious at his 
blocks, say, if they will not stay on top of one another when 
he is trying to build with them, and he may try to punish 
them in one way or another. So he will become angry at his 
bottle if it rolls away from him when he is feeding, at his 
top if it will not spin for him, at his cap if he cannot untie 
it after making vigorous attempts, and so on ad libitum. 
But while inanimate objects do thus awaken the feeling of 
resentment in the child, nevertheless this attitude is in the 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESENTMENT 161 

majority of instances assumed toward people only. Even 

when some experience with an inanimate object seems to 

be the immediate cause of provocation, yet the child, as 

early as his third year at any rate, begins to connect persons 

in some way with most of the things that displease him. 

Thus when his toy gun will not work as he desires, or when 

it breaks while he is using it, his angry attitudes are apt to 

be assumed not only toward the thing itself, but also toward 

the one who bought it for him. When he is crawling into 

his chair and it tumbles over, he may flare up at the one 

whom he easily concludes should have held it for him. 

From the second or third year forward anger becomes ever 

more largely a strictly personal emotion, in the sense that 

people are involved when the individual is in a resentful 

mood, even though the direct inciting cause may be some 

inanimate thing. 

When the infant is in the attitude of rage, he expresses 

his emotion through violent vocal, facial, and bodily actions, 

although these are never co(5rdinated upon the 

,. ° . . ,. •XT- ni Methods of 

object mciting his passion. His arms and legs are expressing 

kept tense and in constant motion ; but it is worth "^* 
while repeating that all this action is really purposeless, in 
the sense that it is not directed upon the person or thing 
responsible for the subject's angry state. However, by the 
time he is a year old he has become exceedingly purposeful 
and dynamic in his reactions upon the objects that incite 
his rage. If his blocks offend him he will probably throw 
them violently on the floor, or downstairs, or out of the 
window ; or he may throw other blocks at the offending 
ones, or stamp on them with his foot, or pound them with 
a stick, and so on. When he cannot untie his cap as readily 
as he wishes, he may viciously jerk at the annoying rib- 
bons ; or he may grasp the cap, and do his utmost to tear 
it off his head, while he utters terrifying cries and shrieks. 
If he succeeds in tearing his cap loose, he will be likely to 
throw it on the floor, and strike at it with anything he can 



162 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

get. When lie is made angry by persons he will strike, 
kick, scratch, and bite them, throw objects at them, and 
always scream at them. The attitude is clearly one in which 
the enraged individual seeks to destroy, or at least to injure 
physically, the thing that has irritated him or deprived him 
of some coveted object. Biting is the mode of attack most 
frequently employed in the early months ; but this is re- 
placed in time by kicking, scratching, or striking with the 
fists, or with some implement, as a club. 

With boys from four onward, striking with the fists is 
the favorite method of reacting upon an offender, unless it 
be " calling names." At all periods, after the age of four 
or thereabouts, an angry individual will readily endeavor to 
punish his tormentor or antagonist by ascribing to him 
some mean and humiliating quality. Boys especially have 
a large vocabulary of debasing terms, relating to a great 
variety of brutes and debased human beings, as fools, liars, 
etc., also dirt, filth, and every object that is despised. Upon 
very slight provocation, these terms will be called into re- 
quisition ; and from seven years on to adolescence " calling 
names " often takes the place of the more violent physical 
modes of expression which are earlier employed. As devel- 
opment proceeds the range of debasing epithets increases, 
and the vocabulary is enriched with terms which suggest 
ever more largely moral reproach. But when adolescence is 
well under way, the inhibitions developed during this period 
begin to play down on these as on other forms of anti-social 
expression. 

One of the most conspicuous methods of expressing in- 
tense anger throughout the entire period of infancy and 
childhood is resistant or aggressive crying. The child will 
throw himself on the floor, and " yell " and scream " at the 
top of his voice " ; and often when children start crying in 
this way, unless some forceful corrective stimulus is im- 
mediately applied to them, they are likely to go in deeper 
and deeper, until they reach the point where their energies 



METHODS OF EXPRESSING RAGE 163 

commence to wane, when they begin to "calm down." One 
may observe children, both boys and girls, from the second 
year on to nine or ten, break into crying over some annoy- 
ance, when their passion increases constantly until their 
whole nervous system seems involved, and they will keep 
on until they are literally worn out. Sometimes the anger 
is so severe, and continues for so long a time, that it 
appears to consume all the available energy in the nervous 
system, and the child falls asleep as his rage declines. 

This mode of expressing anger is much more marked in 
some individuals than in others. When once H. and B. get 
started this way, it seems quite impossible to get anything 
else into their consciousness which will turn their energy 
into other expressive channels. But I. and K. are more 
easily controlled, so that often rage can be stopped by sug- 
gestion before it gains possession of the nervous system. 
In the case of G. it is utterly impossible to shake him out 
of his passion, once he gets started ; it must run its course 
to the point of exhaustion. If G. be whipped while angry 
his fury is only increased; and the same is true if he be 
doused with cold water. It appears that the moment his 
nervous system opens in the direction of the anger reaction, 
it must remain open until the fund of energy is expended ; 
but this is not true of all children. It may be noted that in 
G.'s furious actions there often does not seem to be any 
intention aggressively to subdue or humiliate the social en- 
vironment. He is simply lost in his passion. At such times 
he will accept no attention from any one, no matter who it may 
be, or how kindly are the expressions. The more he is stimu- 
lated, whether by friend or enemy, the more intense does his 
rage become. At such times he would, if he could, destroy all 
who demand any sort of reaction from him. At the same 
time he will grow more furious if those who were involved in 
his misfortunes go away and leave him to himself. In some 
subtle way he feels he would like to have all who have caused 
him trouble to remain in his presence and suffer in silence. 



164 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

Strangely enough, the child in his first reaction of anger 
ordinarily resents an offer of sympathy from the one who 
has injured him. 

Another interesting and very common mode of express- 
ing anger in chUdhood is to assume a sullen or pouting atti- 
tude toward the persons who have been the cause of the ill 
feeling. When a child begins to sidk, all expression except 
that of resistance disappears from his countenance and his 
body. If you approach him while he is in this mood he will 
react by pidling himself away from you, or perhaps by strik- 
ing you. If you speak to him he will either ignore you, or 
call to you to " leave him alone " ; and his intonations will be 
such as are designed to make you afraid to disturb him fur- 
ther. He may try to " get even " with his persecutor (as he 
thinks) by saying in a peculiar muffled tone, " I don't like 
you." It is a strange tone, the expression of a very complex 
state of feeling. The child evidently seeks to humble his real 
or imagined tormentor by withdrawing his affection from 
him. Instinctively the injured individual seems to feel that it 
will cause a person pain to tell him you dislike him. As a 
matter of fact, the mother is often sensibly affected when her 
child declares he does not like her. When S. continues in 
this attitude for some time, and the persons attacked appear 
unaffected by his demonstrations, he is likely to come around 
and strike at them, showing that what he desires is to pro- 
duce some kind of a response in them. He cannot endure 
indifference to his expressions. It is worth while to inquire 
why a child should proceed in this manner when he must 
realize more or less clearly that he is at the mercy of those 
who are larger and more powerful than he. As a matter of 
fact, he takes great chances in doing this, for usually he 
suffers some pain when he does it. But nevertheless it is 
his impulse to " get back" at any one who has annoyed him. 
Here is seen an illustration of an instinct tending to mani- 
fest itself, even when it alienates the possessor from his 
environment. 



THE CAUSES OF ANGER 165 

One of tlie most interesting and significant characteris- 
tics of the attitude of anger is the variability of the situa- 
tions in which it is aroused. A child anywhere from situaUons 
three to twelve years of age may have two experi- which 
ences which are outwardly apparently the same ; the attitude 
and yet in one case he may be overcome with rage, °* ^^" 
while in the other anger may not appear at all. To illustrate 
by two instances typical of numberless occurrences in the 
daily lives of children : M. at the age of four while at play 
with his father fell on the floor as a result of the father's 
roughness, and received a rather serious bump ; but he 
laughed it off, and went on cheerfully with the play. He 
did not show a trace even of anger over the mishap. On 
another occasion shortly afterward he was tripped up in the 
spirit of play by his older brother, and he received a bump 
again, but a considerably slighter one than on the former 
occasion. Nevertheless, he flew into a rage now, and screamed 
and " carried on " at a great rate. His angry demonstrations 
tended to excite all the persons within hearing or seeing dis- 
tance, and they proposed to chastise the offender. 

Now, it seemed evident that in the latter case the child 
was not angry because of the injuries he actually suffered, 
but because of being " insulted " or " wronged " or " humil- 
iated " or, perhaps, dominated by one who was older and 
stronger than himself. The anger was almost wholly aroused 
in view of the encroachments of the alter upon the liberties 
of the self. These encroachments might not at the moment 
have been of any special consequence ; the child could have 
got along with the aggressor for the day all right ; but if let 
pass they might have become intolerable. An individual wiU 
gladly endure considerable actual pain if it be administered 
while he is in the playful attitude, and by one who he feels 
is not seeking to subjugate him, or display authority over 
him. It is domination by another rather than actual pun- 
ishment which the child resents. Indeed, he seems thor- 
oughly to enjoy a certain amount of rough treatment from 



166 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

a well-meaning playfellow, especially one who is stronger 
than he is himself. But let the playful attitude be aban^ 
doned, let genuine rivalry arise, and instantly the child 
will evaluate his experience with his associates in a very 
different manner from what he did at the outset. So that 
in reality, as already intimated, anger in children from 
about the third year on has reference more and more largely 
to the intentions of the persons or things who are the ob- 
jects of the anger than to the actual results of any experience. 
Of course, when the child is in an angry mood, all stimula' 
tion, whether or not proceeding from a playful and kindly 
attitude on the part of his fellows, will often only aggra- 
vate his ill temper. 

It is significant that while children in the beginning mani- 
fest anger toward any one who appears to be instrumental 
Theftmo- in depriving them of some desired pleasure, still 
inso°cia?^*' they early learn not to "flare up" at those who 
relations will react upon them to their disadvantage. As 
an instance, K., a boy of nine, frequently and upon slight 
provocation becomes extremely angry at his mother and 
his brothers and sisters, but he never manifests anger in 
the presence of his father, no matter what the latter may 
do to him. The father has punished him sharply on several 
occasions, when he allowed himslf to be overcome with anger, 
and this has served completely to inhibit his passion. Anger 
as expressed in most situations where something of value 
is to be gained thereby appears to be largely I'eflex ; but it 
certainly can be brought under a certain amount of control 
from the second year on. Fear of ill consequences of any 
sort from its expression will restrain it. J., a boy of eight, 
who is exceedingly irascible in his relations with his brothers, 
holds himself in check completely when he goes into a com- 
pany of boys who ridicule him and plague him if he shows 
anger when he cannot have his way regardless of the desires 
of others. One may see boys endure without the slightest 
display of ill-feeling quite rough treatment on the play- 



THE FUNCTION OF ANGER 167 

ground from the group which will discipline any hot-tem- 
pered member, when with similar treatment from those 
whom they can bully or terrorize, or whom they can obtain 
aid from others in subduing, they will be filled with rage. 

Speaking generally, the individual learns quite early to 
express his anger toward those only who can be affected by 
it to his gain in some way. He does not ordinarily become 
enraged at his baby sister for her transgressions, since he 
can easily protect himself against her while keeping his 
temper. She does not need to be impressed by his angry 
demeanor, as does his brother who is nearer his own age 
and capacity. The dynamic, violent display of resentment 
tends to exert a restraining influence upon aggressors who 
are about on a par as to strength with the one who becomes 
angry. But it may, on the other hand, be a source of plea- 
sure to those who have nothing to fear from the angry one ; 
and a choleric individual is likely to be annoyed by older 
boys for the sake merely of witnessing his discomfiture. S. 
at seven often seems to get genuine pleasure from " teasing" 
his sister, who is not strong enough to do him injury, but 
who becomes very demonstrative in her anger. S. does not 
attempt to resent her attacks upon him ; but at the same 
time he temporarily ceases his hectoring when K. becomes 
furious, and this is, of course, her method of driving off 
her persecutor. Further, her angry expressions summon 
her parents, or any older person who may be in the vicinity, 
and they put a stop to S.'s tormenting. Thus K. discovers 
that her demonstrations are of service, and she comes to 
rely upon them, so that she now tends to give vent to them 
often even on the peaceful approach of S. 

There is involved here a principle of considerable im- 
portance. In a group of children who are much together, 
all being of about the same age and experience, and having 
similar needs, there are liable to develop between certain 
members relations that incite irritability. One child may 
begin to aggress upon another whom he feels he can either 



168 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

bully or tantalize, and this is apt to render the victim par- 
ticularly irascible, so that the mere presence of 
wMch favor the aggressor arouses anger. Thus it is that chil- 
opmentV dren in the same family often quarrel a great 
irritability (Jeal, unless pains are taken to keep each one 

among the . . 

members oi occupied in some agreeable way. The more such 
children are kept together, without outside as- 
sociates, and the more limited the goods which they all 
desire, the more certain they are to develop irritability with 
all its manifold expressions. 

This almost ceaseless conflict is apt to persist, until the 
range of activity of the contestants begins to extend well 
out beyond the home circle into the larger world of diver- 
sified interests and social relations. This means, of course, 
that as the young find opportunity without the home for the 
utilization of their energies and the gratification of their 
desires, they cease to aggress upon one another to such a 
degree as they invariably do when they are constantly in 
one another's way, as it were. As their lives expand, they 
come gradually to regard each other in a different light 
from what they did in the beginning. In due course they 
change from mutual aggressors and competitors to partners 
and associates, who have interesting experiences in the out- 
side world which they are willing to share with one another. 
The writer has kept close account of a family of seven chil- 
dren who in their development followed this course from 
the point of constant conflict to good-fellowship and cooper- 
ation, as soon as each came to play an independent role in 
the larger world outside the home. 

This same principle may be observed in instances where 
children are separated for brief periods, as for a summer, 
say. V. at seven spent one summer on a farm away from 
his brothers, sisters, and associates. On his return he was 
looked upon with peculiar interest by those who had not 
had his opportunities. All felt he had learned many things 
which they did not know, and was master of arts which 



THE ATTITUDE OF HATRED 169 

they would like to acquire. In a very subtle but very real 
way they did him homage for a time. When he told of his 
exploits they would listen and applaud, when previously 
they would often ridicule him, and endeavor to minimize 
his achievements in the eyes of his friends. Now they 
would follow him around while he showed them the tricks 
he had acquired during his absence ; and whatever he de- 
sired he secured without resistance. He was, in short, a 
hero for a day, a leader, while his quondam antagonists 
were ready followers. But in the course of time, when he 
had imparted all his novel experiences, when he had nothing 
new to offer, gradually the old tensions were reestablished, 
and he was resisted in his aggressions as he had been for- 
merly. His brother and his playfellows came to regard him 
again as a competitor, who must be kept on his own ground. 
This instance is typical in general character and outcome of 
a number that occurred in the lives of this particular group 
of children, between the ages of three and fifteen. 

The child in all his expressions is more or less explosive. 
He tends to react at once upon any stimulus ; and when 
the stimulus ceases, the attitude incited by it is Deveiop- 
apt to be rapidly merged into a different one. ^tmudeof* 
Attitudes awakened in any special situation are hatred 
not likely to endure long when the situation changes. 
Thus the child is a quite faithful reflex of his immediate 
environment ; his reactions are usually in response to the 
forces playing upon him at any moment. But as develop- 
ment proceeds, this sensitiveness to direct stimulation grad- 
ually declines for a large part of the environment, and 
often for the whole of it during long periods at a time. As 
a rule, development leads to the establishment of more or 
less permanent tendencies along various lines, with the 
result that the individual endeavors so to shape the social 
environment that it may remain in the form most appro- 
priate to his preferred attitudes. This principle, as it relates 
to the particular attitude in question, means that the child 



170 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

as he develops becomes normally less and less explosive in 
his anger, but more and more enduring in his hostile reac- 
tions. In the early years he cannot really hold a " grudge " 
against any one, though he may say he does not like such 
and such a person. But, after all, his antipathy is based 
upon a definite concrete experience, and it does not usually 
outlast the memory of the experience. One may often hear 
a child declare with great vigor that he " hates " a play- 
fellow ; but in a few minutes he may be enjoying the most 
friendly sort of relations with him. 

It is different, however, with the adolescent. He cannot 
forget so easily. G. was a typically explosive boy at six, 
frequently in conflict with his associates, bvit never retain- 
ing for long any ill feeling against any one who would play 
with him. Mean tricks in his companions would soon be 
buried in oblivion, and all would be smooth sailing again 
until a new instance of aggression arose. His daily life was 
made up of cooperative activities, freely interspersed with 
conflicts ; but the latter were rarely carried over night. It 
is very different with him at fifteen, however. Now his 
hostile attitudes toward individuals are in a number of 
cases long enduring ; they extend over weeks and months 
even. He will " have nothing to do " with the objects of his 
aversion ; and he not only seeks to avoid them, but he 
endeavors to belittle them to his associates. He really hates 
them. He is hostile to them, not on account of one deed 
alone, but on account of their whole personality. This 
concrete case is probably typical in main features of the 
developmental history of all individuals in respect to the 
matter in question. 

The child of five does not, as we have noticed, long 
harbor the wrongs inflicted on him. In a flash almost his 
anger may be turned to friendly feeling. So he does not 
dwell upon modes of " getting even " with an adversary. 
He does normally strive to " even up" trespassing, but he 
does so at the instant of the injury done him. He does not 



THE ATTITUDE OF INDIGNATION 171 

nurse his troubles with his associates, and some time in the 
future endeavor to " pay up old scores." But the adolescent, 
who does not forget so easily, is apt to keep on the qui vive 
for an opportunity to revenge himself upon his antagonist. 
He cannot feel at ease until his enemy has been made to 
suffer for his aggression or his opposition. Of course, there 
is great individual variation here ; but it is probable that 
all persons tend to pursue the course indicated. Revenge is 
properly an attitude which can be taken only when the 
child reaches the point where he does not readily forget 
experiences wherein others act contrary to his interests. 
When he commences to ponder over his conflicts so that he 
feels opposition deeply, then he begins to plan to humiliate 
or subjugate his rivals, and he may keep his vengeful 
schemes in his mind for months or years, so that he may 
perfect them. G. in his seventeenth year was frequently 
overheard to say in substance of a rival in high-school activ- 
ities, " I will strike even with him yet." The offenses of 
which this rival was guilty had been committed many 
months before, but G. had not overlooked them, and it was 
evident that he was biding his time until he could avenge 
himself. Outwardly G. seemed to be more or less friendly 
toward his enemy, but matters could not be adjusted within 
until the latter was paid in full in his own coin. G. is 
probably not an exceptional individual in respect to this 
trait, though the particular instance in question seemed to 
be somewhat extreme. 

We have seen that the young child is made angry only 
when he is thwarted in the attainment of very definite con- 
crete ends, or when he is deprived of any pleasure ^^^ devei- 
which he is experiencing at the moment. A stimu- opment of 
lus must be of a quite direct physical character, in of indig- 
order to awaken a response in the individual. A ^^**°^ 
child of six, say, would not on his own initiative react in a 
hostile way upon one who was guilty of an offense against 
the ethical or moral code in force in the community, or even 



172 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

against most conventionalities in respect to cleanliness and 
the like. He may resent the attempts of a playfellow to take 
an unfair advantage in his games ; but he is not likely to 
show any deep feeling in regard to the matter unless his own 
interests are imperiled, when he will, if he dares, react di- 
rectly and positively upon the offender. But if we will run 
forward ten years in the individual's development, we will 
find him at times assuming an attitude of hostility toward 
others when his own welfare is not at least immediately 
involved. That is to say, he will resent liberties being taken 
by others with the more prominent ethical and moral rules, 
and also with many of the conventionalities of social inter- 
course. As he continues to develop, if he does so normally, 
he will grow more and more pronounced in his hostile re- 
actions upon an offender against the principles of fair play, 
as he interprets them, and against the fundamental stand- 
ards of conduct as he himself appreciates them. In his 
reaction he is not as explosive and dynamic as he was when 
he was a boy of six, partly because the offenses which arouse 
the indignant attitude are not as direct and simple and phy- 
sical as those which incite mere anger. The latter attitude 
is elemental ; it is assumed automatically when the interests 
of the self are interfered with ; but it is different with the 
attitude of indignation, which is extremely complicated, and 
so not as directly aroused and expressed as anger. In wrath 
the individual becomes aggressive ; he would destroy the 
object which threatens his well-being. But later on when he 
is indignant he may keep himself wholly under restraint, 
revealing his resentment only in his withholding customary 
friendly expressions from an offender. 

This may be the best place in which to mention a com- 
Appearanco plex attitude of the general nature of resentment, 
tuderf*"^" i" t^^ sense that it is taken in view of what 
Jealousy the self regards as the encroachments of the alter. 
Children as early as the fifteenth month,i at any rate, show 
1 Perez (pp. cit. p. 71) does not mention jealousy as occurring before the 



THE ATTITUDE OF JEALOUSY , 173 

marked displeasure when other children are favored in their 
presence above themselves, or even receive attention or gifts 
from those upon whom they are dependent for their own 
favors. A child who has satisfied himself with his bottle, say, 
will be likely to show resentment if what he leaves is offered 
to a brother or sister. It is a common device of mothers to 
induce their children to eat against their desires by threaten- 
ing to give their food to others. A child will often consume 
his food himself, even though he does not enjoy it, rather 
than see another gain pleasure from it. It is in a way a dog- 
in-the-manger attitude, which is strikingly revealed when the 
child protests against a rival receiving any kindness from a 
parent or guardian or playfellow. Here is a common nursery 
experience : a child of fifteen months is playing happily 
with his blocks on the floor. Near by is his mother and his 
brother, still a baby, and the former takes the latter on her 
knee. The chances are that the child on the floor will leave 
his playthings, and, if he can, drive off the brother, and 
climb into the mother's lap himself. In many of his relations 
with his associates, the child shows in various ways that he 
does not enjoy their success and good fortune, even though 
these do not directly deprive him of any pleasure. Of course, 
this attitude must be largely instinctive at the outset ; it is 
assumed long before the child's own experience could have 
developed it in him. 

One may often see a child in his second year, say, de- 
stroy an object he does not want rather than have it appro- 
priated by a rival. But he is not likely to do this on all 
occasions. For example, V. at two years would often mani- 
fest intense jealousy toward his sister at one moment, while 
the next moment he might share his toys and sweets with 
her. Sympathy and fellow-feeling thus alternate with ex- 
treme selfishness and jealousy in the young child. In the 

fifteenth month. Darwin speaks of the jealous expression of his son at fifteen 
and a half months. But Sikorsky {Die Seele des Eindes, p. 56) and others 
have observed the expression of jealousy during the first year of life. 



174 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

beginning, as we have seen, he is likely to assume the jealous 
atttitude toward a person who in his presence is favored in 
any of the ways in which he is himself interested, as when 
his mother caresses another, when a companion is given a 
toy which he could use himself, and so on. But as he 
develops, this attitude is assumed only toward those with 
whom he is frequently in competition and in conflict. By 
the fifth year children (boys especially) are very keen in 
noting any favors extended to their competitors, and jeal- 
ousy is ever ready to be expressed upon the slightest pro- 
vocation. Parents must exercise great care in selecting 
presents, say, for their children from the third or fourth 
year on through adolescence, lest those given to one child 
may appear to another to be more desirable than those he 
himself received. Parents are often compelled, in order to 
preserve the peace in their households, to secure precisely 
the same articles for aU their children, whether or not they 
are appropriate in every instance. The jealous child cannot 
be " reasoned with "; his passion renders him immune to 
argument which seeks to justify apparent discrimination 
when he thinks his rival may be the gainer thereby. 

The jealous attitude is manifested most strikingly in 
children from the fifth year on in situations where competi- 
situations tors seek to exalt themselves in the eyes of those 
which incite j^^ have f avors to distribute, or where the deeds 

the attitude ^ ' 

of Jealousy and virtues of rivals are extolled by outsiders. 

Let K. begin to describe in the family circle some cour- 
ageous or faithful deed he has performed, or painful experi- 
ence he has endured, or duties he has discharged, and C, his 
natural rival, will at once seek to minimize the importance 
of the particular act for which praise is sought, so that K. 
may not be too highly thought of. Then C. will endeavor 
to attract attention to his own worth by describing more 
meritorious deeds which he has himself performed. He 
cannot easily submit to the attempts of his rival to gain 
the admiration of the company before whom he wishes to 



MANIFESTATIONS OF JEALOUSY 175 

exhibit himself. But it is different in situations where K. 
and C. are tmited in their interests, in opposition to other 
groups. Then C. is glad to reenforce the testimony of K. 
regarding his valorous deeds ; and the principle works in 
just the same way when C. is seeking for favor, and K. is 
the jealous witness or the faithful comrade. 

It must be impressed that jealousy is an attitude assumed 
only by individuals in those situations in which they are 
competing for the same favors. Two children may be in- 
tensely jealous in their own homes ; but they may abandon 
this attitude absolutely when they go into the world and 
compete as a unit with other groups. Normally, the jeal- 
ousies between members of a family tend to disappear in 
the measure that their interests broaden, and they form new 
connections in the world. That is to say, according as per- 
sons cease to be keen rivals, they tend either to become 
indifferent to the successes of one another, or they may even 
rejoice in the good fortune of each other, and lose no oppor- 
tunity to celebrate one another's virtues and merits. This 
latter stage is not reached, however, until rivalry, and so 
conflict, wholly ceases, and the contestants come to appreciate 
that their interests are mutual, and each can help himself 
best by extolling the other. This is frequently seen in adult 
life, especially in political and professional partnerships ; 
men who to-day may be reviling one another, seeking to 
injure each other's reputation, may praise one another to- 
morrow, when they discover that they can promote their 
own interests best by cooperation instead of by jealous 
competition. 

It is a principle of wide application that if the alter does 
not bear such close relations to the self that he can aid or 
injure it in some way through his expressions, then he may 
do what he pleases, and the self will remain neutral toward 
him. To illustrate, X., who is a member of my profession 
and of my " class," builds a showy and obtrusive house in 
a town quite remote from me, and while I know him I am 



176 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

not in the least jealous of him, as I should be if he built 
this house right next to mine .where the neighbors would 
see both, and ignore mine because his would dominate the 
view. Again, students in one college or in a university are 
quite indifferent to the exemplary habits of particular stu- 
dents in other colleges, while they may be exceedingly jeal- 
ous of students of similar habits in their own college, because 
they have vital relations with them, and they feel their own 
status is determined by the activities of these classmates. 
A professor may not be at all affected by the sensational 
methods of a minister in his community who wishes to 
attract attention to himself; but he may react violently 
toward a fellow professor who adopts the same methods as 
the minister. An individual, that is to say, is keenly sensi- 
tive to the behavior of members of his special group, since his 
own standing depends upon the conduct of his associates. It 
is a commonplace that great authors, artists, musicians, and 
the like, who appeal to the same audience, are often intensely 
jealous of one another. Sometimes this jealousy amounts to 
permanent enmity among distinguished persons, though, 
on the whole, it is probable that those who become promi- 
nent in any line of activity find much of common interest 
to encourage friendships which will hold in check the ten- 
dencies toward jealous resentment. 

Then, it must not be forgotten that rivals in art or lit- 
erature or science are often of distinct help to one another, 
so that appreciation and gratitude aid in counteracting the 
feelings of jealous hostility. Not infrequently one may see 
a person belittling a rival in one situation, but praising 
him sincerely in another. In the one case the individual is 
sensitive to the competition between himself and his rival 
for the approbation of a certain social group, while in the 
other case he is sensitive to the genuine worth of the rival 
without regard to his influence upon the status of the self. 
In all social groups there is this constant play of complex 
emotions between individuals who have interests in common 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF JEALOUSY 177 

in any respect. The impulses relating to self -conservation 
may lead one to take at different times all the social atti- 
tudes described in foregoing chapters, and in reaction upon 
the same individual's expressions; though normally a cer- 
tain characteristic attitude comes to be assumed toward a 
given individual, since his activities will ordinarily be pre- 
dominantly favorable or hostile to the interests of the self. 
As a general principle, the smaller the group of indi- 
viduals who are in competition with one another, and the 
narrower the range of their interests, the more (jo^aitions 
intense will be the jealous attitudes developed, favoring 
As the group increases in membership, and their opmentoi 
interests and activities become more varied, par- J**^'"*''^ 
ticular competitors normally come to occupy a less and less 
important place in any one individual's attention. It is 
as though the energy which in a restricted situation finds 
an outlet in one channel, perhaps, is discharged through 
various channels when the circle of persons and the range 
of interests to be reacted upon are enlarged. It is probable 
that most strictly social attitudes become less pronounced, 
though they are likely to become more habitual, according 
as the occasions which call them forth are multiplied. This 
principle has an interesting application to the child when 
he enters school. His new personal environment makes 
such demands upon his attention and energy, in order that 
he may take the first steps in adjustment thereto, that the 
jealous attitudes are not aroused for some time, though 
they are liable to appear as he begins to feel at home in 
the new group. The beginner is usually in the learning or 
adaptive attitude ; he is never at the outset resentful toward 
individuals in the group who may secure greater attention 
than himself from the teacher or his associates. The novice 
in school seeks, above everything else, to win the favor of 
those who for any reason are prominent in the group. He 
does not normally oppose his personality to that of any one 
who stands well with the crowd, or who has the support of 
tradition in his particular expressions. 



178 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

This tendency is seen at every stage in the individual's 
scholastic career when he joins new groups, as when he 
enters the high school or the college. As a member of the 
eighth grade of the elementary school, he may be in an atti- 
tude of resentment toward many of the expressions of his 
classmates and those in lower classes ; but when he becomes 
a freshman in the high school he will be likely to exhibit 
no trace of resentment for a time, but only docility, in 
which he will gladly tolerate whatever may happen, only 
so that he is not singled out for special attention. " Keep 
quiet, mind your business, and learn from your elders," is 
the maxim he tends to follow implicitly ; and if he does not 
do it, his superiors, the upper-classmen, who by tradition 
are entitled to privileges and respect not accorded to be- 
ginners, wiU speedily reduce him to a submissive, assimi- 
lative attitude. All this may be seen at its best among such 
groups as one finds in the public schools of England, — 
Eton, Rugby, and the like. Here the novice is kept for 
quite a long period in a very humble frame of mind. He 
does not feel sufficiently independent to take attitudes of 
resentment toward any one in the school, even one of his 
own class, much less members of the higher classes, or the 
masters. If he feels jealousy he conceals it effectively ; but 
so much is demanded of him by way of positive adjustment 
that he has little opportunity for jealous resentment. Jeal- 
ousy flourishes best among those whose energies are not 
largely employed in positive activities. One may see an 
illustration of this principle if he will contrast a very dy- 
namic, progressive community with an idle one ; jealousy 
will be much more prominent in the latter than in the 
former. 

As the child grows to feel at ease in adjustment to the 
situations presented in the school, he commences to assume 
Schoolroom attitudes of disapproval as well as approval of 
Jealousies ^he expressions of his associates, and even of the 
teacher. In due course, often by the fourth year in school, 



SCHOOLROOM JEALOUSIES 179 

possibly earlier, he begins to manifest some feeling of jeal- 
ousy toward those of his group who attain greater pro- 
minence in the work of the school than he does himself. 
However, according to the observations of the present 
writer, this feeling is not a dominant one at any period in 
the elementary school, except in the case of particular chil- 
dren who are displeased at any distinction in recitations or 
in conduct attained by their classmates. In the fourth 
grade of a certain elementary school of a Western city, 
there are three backward boys who have been in this grade 
for two years, though they are bright enough in the things 
of the street. They are in a more or less hostile attitude 
toward all that goes on in the schoolroom, probably because 
they cannot succeed in it themselves, and so they would like 
to escape from it or destroy it. Now, they make it un- 
pleasant, so far as they are able, for all the boys in the 
grade who apply themselves to their tasks, and get " good 
marks." On the playground these dullards " pick on " the 
" bright " boys ; and in the school they ridicule them by 
" snickering " at them, or " making faces " at them, and 
so on, with the result that they deter some boys from doing 
their best in the schoolroom. These same three ill-adjusted 
boys will make fun of their mates who come to the school 
" dressed up in fine togs." They are themselves attired in 
plain clothes suited to the rough experiences of the street, 
and they resent the adoption of different styles by any of 
their associates. Further, they show jealous feeling toward 
boys who come from " better " homes than their own, or 
from more " aristocratic" parts of the city. 

But aside from these three cases, there are no other pupils 
in this grade who show toward their classmates jealous feel- 
ings of any consequence. There are bright and dull boys 
in the school who are the best of companions outside the 
schoolroom. T. receives higher marks than S. in all his 
studies, but there is no jealousy felt by the latter for the 
farmer. They play together much of the time, and the ex- 



180 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

periences of the school have no deterring influence upon their 
friendship. S. does not yet evaluate very highly the sort of 
distinction which comes from standing high in the roll of 
honor of the school, and he is apparently incapable of feel- 
ing resentment toward one who receives praises and prizes 
for this sort of excellence. The rewards of classroom dis- 
tinction are not striking enough to impress the average 
pupil with their importance, so he does not begrudge them 
to the one who can get them. Even in the eighth grade, so 
far as the writer has been able to detect, there is very little 
jealousy aroused among the pupils by those who stand at 
the head of their classes, though there is more of it here 
than in the fourth grade. According as the honors of the 
schoolroom attain greater importance in the eyes of pupils, 
just in this measure will feelings of resentment be active 
toward the pupils who carry them off. 

One may observe the jealous attitude expressing itself 
sometimes among eighth-grade pupils in the effort of the 
less fortunate ones to explain the excellence of their brighter 
associates. The fourth-grader normally does not attempt to 
explain the superiority of his classmates ; he does not seem 
to appreciate the necessity of doing so. But the older pupils 
begin to feel the social value of intellectual distinction, 
and they strive more or less unconsciously to belittle the 
achievements of those who head the lists. This becomes 
more marked the higher one goes in the schools. It is 
probably the keenest of all in the college, where the more 
industrious and docile members of the group are often ridi- 
culed and caricatured in the attempt of the crowd to sup- 
press them and keep them from manifesting their obnoxious 
qualities. Of course, if a brilliant and well-behaved student 
is also excellent in general college activities, he will be likely 
to win the admiration and applause of the multitude ; but 
it is not because of his ethical and intellectual superiority, 
but rather because of his good-fellowship that he avoids the 
condemnation of his jealous associates. 



JEALOUSY DURING ADOLESCENCE 181 

It will not be necessary here to do more than to mention 
the chief incitement to jealousy after the beginning of the 
adolescent upheaval, and lasting well on into middle Jealousy 
life. The testimony of autobiographers, as well as adoiefcent 
the observations of psychologists, indicate that p"^°"^ 
rivalry for sex favors gives rise to most of the jealous atti- 
tudes of the adolescent up until full maturity is reached. 
Often, no doubt, it is the main cause of the jealousies of 
some people throughout their lives ; but normally other and 
more general interests become stronger and more vital as 
maturity is approached. But from the age of fifteen or six- 
teen on to twenty-five or beyond the sex needs and interests 
are supreme, and the individual is sensitive to sex relations 
above all others. No pain is so keen at this time as that 
which arises from slight or indifference from persons of the 
opposite sex, and no experience will stir an individual so 
deeply as that which tlireatens to deprive him of the ex- 
clusive possession of the affections of the one he loves. In 
any mixed group during adolescence the response to sex re- 
lations is exceedingly unstable ; every member of the group 
is hypersensitive to expression of sex of every sort, and it 
is inevitable that resentment, in the form of jealousy mainly, 
should be exceedingly active. Innumerable " confessions " 
of both men and women show that in many cases there was 
experienced the most acute jealousy much of the time dur- 
ing early adolescence. These individuals were keyed up to 
such a pitch of sex tension that they were in a more or less 
constant state of illusion regarding the relations to their 
rivals of those whom they loved. Now, if ever, the terms 
used by the poets and others to describe jealousy are ap- 
plicable, — a " monster with green eyes," " agony unmixed," 
" dyspepsia of the mind," " Ugliest fiend of Hell," and so 
on ad infinitum. Sex need, and so sex sensitiveness, are 
more profound than all things else in the lives of many per- 
sons ; indeed, the instinct of self-preservation is often not 
as intense as the desires arising out of sex, which is shown 



182 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

in the frequency with which people disappointed in love 
take their lives. 

The infant's attitude is at first a non-resistant one; but by the 
twelfth week the cry of anger begins to be clearly differentiated from 
his other vocalizations. As he develops, the purpose in his 
expressions of anger seems to be to render the alter subser- 
vient. The angry attitude is assumed by the infant only when he fails 
to realize his desires, or when he suffers pain caused by some object, 
as he thinks. The year-old child is in the angry attitude a large part 
of his waking hours, since his desires are far greater than is his ability 
to secure gratification of them by any means. The young child will, 
when thwarted in his undertakings, become angry at inanimate as well 
as animate objects ; but from the third year on this attitude is confined 
ever more strictly to personal situations. 

The infant expresses his rage through violent vocal and bodily ex- 
pressions. These are at first aimless ; but by the end of the first year 
they are always directed upon the offending object. Resistant or 
aggressive crying is a prominent form of expressing anger throughout 
infancy and childhood. Often when children get started in this way, 
they continue in spite of all corrective measures until their available 
energy is consumed. Boys when they are angry easily kick the offender, 
bite and strike him, etc. Another common method of expressing anger 
in childhood is sulking, by which the injured one hopes to " get even" 
with his adversary, as he imagines. 

From about the third year on the intention behind rather than the 
actual results of any action determines what attitude the individual 
will assume toward the actor. At adolescence motive is almost the sole 
thing considered in deciding how any given action should be treated. 

Children in the same family usually quarrel a great deal because of 
conflict in endeavoring to gratify their needs and desires. As they find 
increasing opportunities to utilize their energies in diversified activi- 
ties, and as they assume broader social relations, they normally cease 
to aggress upon one another. The narrower the range of social contact 
and interest the greater the likelihood of conflict. 

The child's reactions are ordinarily in harmony with the stimulus 
acting at any moment. With development, however, immediate re- 
sponsiveness gradually declines, and more or less permanent and 
unyielding attitudes are established. Thus the attitude of hatred is 
not assumed until comparatively late in the maturing process. Again, 
not until the child reaches the point where disagreeable experiences 
are not readily forgotten can he assume a revengeful attitude. 

The attitude of indignation appears only when the individual has 
begun to appreciate ethical and moral standards, when he will to some 
extent at least resent offenses against them. This attitude is extremely 



RESUME 183 

complex, and not as directly aroused and expressed as anger. While 
in anger the individual seeks to injure or destroy the irritating object, 
in indignation he will withhold from the offender friendly expressions, 
as a typical mode of revealing his displeasure. 

Children very early manifest the jealous attitude. One may some- 
times see a child in his second year destroy an object he does not wish 
rather than have it appropriated by a rival. Among competitors 
jealousy is extremely active from the third or fourth year onward. 
According as individuals cease to be rivals they either grow indifferent 
to the favors shown one another, or they come to rejoice in each other's 
successes. 

As a rule, the smaller the range of interests of a group, and the 
fewer the number who are in competition, the more intense will the 
expression of jealousy become. A novice in any group is usually in an 
assimilative, rarely in a resentful, attitude toward his new associates; 
but as he grows to feel at ease in the group he is likely to develop 
jealousies. During adolescence and afterward, jealous attitudes arise 
mainly out of competition for sex recognition and appreciation. 



CHAPTER VIII 

AGGRESSION 

In the discussion of resentment there has been a constant 
temptation to consider in connection with it the attitude of 
aggression, which is usually associated with it, and is often 
the cause of it. In any social situation in which the one 
attitude is assumed by an individual or a group, the other 
attitude will as a rule be assumed by another individual or 
group. But with a view to securing clearness in presenta- 
tion, an effort was made in the preceding chapter to consider 
the attitudes as if they were largely independent of one 
another, though in the present chapter their interdepend- 
ence will be more fully recognized, for otherwise it would 
not be possible to convey a truthful impression of the na- 
ture of the aggressive attitude, and the circumstances under 
which it either prospers or is speedily abandoned. 

In the discussion of anger, reference was made to the ten- 
dency of children vigorously to resist the encroachments of 
their associates upon what they regard as their 
combative rightful possessions ; but a particular aspect of the 
attitude general principle involved must be looked into in 
greater detail here. We have seen that when the child's plea- 
sures are interfered with in any way ; when he is deprived of 
an object he enjoys, or when he is prevented from obtaining 
whatever he wishes, it is his impulse to punish the one who 
has been the cause of his unhappiness, or to remove him 
from his path so that he can continue in the pursuit of the 
things he desires. In the early years his mode of procedure 
in a situation of this sort is very direct, concrete, even phy- 
sical. He endeavors to inflict pain of a definite, tangible 
character upon his antagonist or his tormentor. This means 
that whenever resisted in his undertakings, or made angry 



THE COMBATIVE ATTITUDE 185 

for any cause, he easily assumes the belligerent attitude 
unless he is restrained for prudential reasons. This com- 
bative impulse expends itself on the victim in a variety of 
forms, some of which have already been mentioned, as strik- 
ing, biting, kicking, scratching, pinching, throwing to the 
ground, using weapons of one sort or another, as clubs, 
stones, knives, etc. But whatever may be the mode of at- 
tack, the aim is always the same in intent ; the combatant 
seeks to penalize or humiliate his adversary, or to make 
him serve him, or stand out of his course. If the present 
wrong cannot be satisfactorily righted, then the injured per- 
son endeavors to give the aggressor " such a lesson " that 
the latter will never again be the cause of trouble to the 
former. 

Before the completion of the first year children normally 
exhibit in a marked degree the combative impulse in its 
simple, direct form. On even slight pretext they will often 
fly into a rage, and then they will make use of all the means 
at their command to pimish the object of their wrath. At 
this age there is little if any inhibition of the impulse, except 
in the face of violent reaction from the environment. Given 
any serious irritation, and in the majority of cases the 
combative attitude will be assumed in a more or less reflex 
way. This sort of thing continues without material modifi- 
cation for three or four years ; and with boys at least, who 
are much together and who are candidates for the same 
favors, quarreling is a rather common event of their daily 
lives until the advent of the adolescent period at any rate. 
It is probable that the combative impulse is never aroused 
in the earliest years except upon some form of provocation. 
Either the individual resents the aggressive acts of others, 
or he strives to break down opposition to his own aggression, 
which he regards as justifiable of course, if such a term can 
be applied to the child's non-reflective action. From his 
standpoint it is right to obtain if he can whatever he wants, 
and if he is able to secure it by force he wiU not hesitate 



186 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

so to do. But the three-year-old child does not normally 
find pleasure in aggression for its own sake ; he does not 
fight with his playfellows for the pleasure of combat itself, 
nor does he seem ordinarily to inflict pain merely that he 
may enjoy another's sufferings. 

It is true that some cases of this sort have been reported 
by Burk and others, wherein children of three years, and 
even younger, have apparently taken delight in bullying 
comrades by pinching them, striking them, and in other 
ways. But it is possible that in all such cases there has really 
been some inciting cause, though perhaps not at the moment. 
K. at the age of three has been observed on a number of 
occasions to strike S. when he was not molesting her at the 
moment ; but the fact is that he enjoys teasing her, and she has 
contracted a rather settled feeling that she must resist him, 
and even administer penalties to him whenever the situa- 
tion encourages such procedure. She has learned that the 
chances are that he will annoy her in some manner when- 
ever he finds her off guard ; and it is easy for her to misin- 
terpret his intentions. Even in his moments of good behavior, 
he may be planning an attack ; he has frequently done so 
in the past. And the proper thing now, the protective thing, 
is to drive him off before he has an opportunity to do any 
harm. Thus K. is usually on the defensive when in the pre- 
sence of S., for he is likely at any moment to disturb her 
playthings, or to tickle her, or to molest her in one way or 
another. In her own consciousness, then, she is dealing with 
an adversary when S. is within aggressing distance, though 
an outsider would not appreciate this. She does not assume 
this belligerent attitude toward her doll, or any younger 
child, who does not interfere with her possessions or block 
her enterprises ; which indicates that her combative attitudes 
seem always to be assumed for cause. 

It should be noted in this connection that children in 
their second year occasionally show a disposition to redress a 
wrong done them even after the pain or inconvenience 



METHODS OF RETALIATION 187 

caused by the experience has disappeared. When V. would 
annoy his brother of the age of two, the latter Methods "oi 
would sometime later take advantage of an oppor- retaliation 
timity to "square matters" with the former, even though 
the father had disciplined V. for his misbehavior, and there 
was no likelihood of his occasioning S. any annoyance again 
for a considerable period at least. But S. always seemed to 
feel more comfortable when he himself made V. suffer more 
or less, or humiliated him. The expressions on S.'s features 
on such occasions and his vocal demonstrations and bodily 
attitudes all appeared to say, " Now, take that ; it is a 
good thing for you; I will give you as good as you gave." 
With children from three onward there seems to be an 
almost irresistible desire to " get even " with one of their 
" set " who has intentionally occasioned them discomfort 
in any way, physical or otherwise. Sometimes they will 
appear to be satisfied if they can participate in, or at least 
look on at, the discipline which the parent or teacher or 
older playmate administers to an offender ; but according to 
the writer's observations children who have been aggressed 
upon regain their emotional equilibrium the more readily 
if they can themselves carry out the principle of an eye for 
an eye and a tooth for a tooth. They want on their own 
account to apply the Mosaic law fully. 

Again, they seem normally not to be content with any- 
thing short of the infliction of a very concrete penalty upon 
their assailant ; and even when forbidden by parent or teacher 
so to do, they will nevertheless endeavor stealthily to " even 
up" matters with their rivals. Boys from seven to twelve 
or so will retain a grudge for weeks, or even months, and 
will watch their opportunity to retaliate. At the age of three 
a child does not appear to remember for any considerable 
period a particular injury done by an associate ; but it is 
altogether different with children of twelve or older. B. has 
stored in his memory several special injuries he has received 
from two bullies in his school, and he is longing for a 



188 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

chance to pay them back in their own coin. Now at twelve 
he does not easily forget intended aggressions of every sort 
as he did when he was six, or younger. And what reaUy 
rankles in his consciousness is the humiliation resulting 
from his experience with the bullies. He cannot adjust 
himself to the fact that he was dominated by another with 
whom he is supposed to be on a par in matters of courage, 
strength, and combative skill. This sense of being conquered 
by his equal far outlasts the remembrance of the actual 
physical pain he suffered, which in no case was really seri- 
ous. As we follow the individual on toward maturity we 
find that he remembers his " slights " and " iasults " for an 
increasingly longer period, and he cannot be content until 
he has been the cause of making his assailant suffer in the 
measure and in the manner that he was made to suffer 
himself. 

As maturity is approached there may be observed a 
growing tendency for the individual to be satisfied with 
Retaliation other than physical punishment of his adversaries, 
npontte Also, he is not so eager as he once was to cause 

basis of , . ° . 

Injury done his enemies to suffer by his own hand. The boy 
" reputa- of six wishes to have wrongs righted immediately, 
Uon" directly, and physically. To injure his assailant 

in his reputation does not impress the six-year-old as of 
much importance ; retribution is not impressive enough 
to discharge his feeling of anger. However, by the age of 
ten there is beginning to appear some slight appreciation 
of the meaning and value of " reputation," and the pain 
endured when the individual suffers injury thereto. V. does 
not like to have any one say of him that he cannot catch 
a baseball; for he is a member of a boy's team, and he 
would much dislike to lose membership therein through 
incompetency. It really irritates him when he is likened to 
a " mush-fingers." He resents being called a coward, for he 
belongs to a boy's football team, and he enjoys the distinc- 
tion of playing without regard to the consequences to him- 



INJURY TO ONE'S REPUTATION 189 

self physically. Again, he will attack a boy who charges 
him with being a " tattle-tale," for this latter sort of per- 
son is despised and plagued by the group of which V. is a 
member. But he does not at this age seem to mind being 
called a poor writer or a bad speller or an awkward dancer 
or an unsocial or untidy individual. He desires, above all 
else in his social adjustments, to stand well with the boys 
with whom he is in competitive as well as cooperative rela- 
tions. At the same time he does not appear to be eager to 
stand well with the minister or the teacher (except in 
respect to simple personal relations), or with the girls 
among his associates. 

By the age of fifteen, some of the social relations which 
were not felt at aR at ten begin to occupy the boy's atten- 
tion, though none of the old relations completely lose their 
importance for him. As development proceeds these newer 
and more subtle relations grow constantly more prominent, 
until by the time maturity is reached the individual nor- 
mally is anxious about his reputation in the matter of intel- 
lectual competency, truthfulness, honesty, decency, morality, 
and the like. He will then most vigorously resent any 
reflection upon his character in respect to these traits. Of 
course, the ideals of the particular groups of which he is 
an active member will determine in what special qualities 
he will wish to rank highest in the eyes of his associates, 
and whether he will be indifferent respecting certain mat- 
ters to which the world in general attaches much signifi- 
cance. To illustrate, in college communities it is regarded 
as a mark of distinction to cheat in examination ; and in 
such places a student will not resent being accused of dis- 
honesty. Often he feels pride in attaining distinction in a 
rather skillful and delicate enterprise which he thinks the 
student body as a whole would like to excel in. Again, in 
certain colleges it is considered to be a sign of loyalty and 
good-fellowship for one student to lie to the authorities in 
shielding a fellow student under suspicion, and no person. 



190 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

in such a community will feel injury done to his reputation 
if he is charged with lying of this sort, though he would be 
likely to do violence to one who would accuse him of being 
a liar in reference to other matters which his " set " gener- 
ally condemns. In many college communities a man will 
not feel hurt at all, but rather pleased, if he be called 
" fast," whereas he will make a supreme effort to resent the 
charge when he gets out in the world into business or into 
a profession where dissoluteness is looked upon with dis- 
favor. Illustrations of the general principle might be cited 
almost ad infinitum. 

It was said some paragraphs back that the child of four 
will endeavor to redress a wrong, directly and with his own 
j,„i_ hand, by visiting physical punishment upon an 

methods of aofgressor. He does not normally feel that his 

preserving . . 

group sta- troubles can be properly adjudicated when he 

^ submits his case to a disinterested outsider who is 

responsible for determining what penalty is due, and how 
it shall be administered. He will dispose of his case in this 
way only when his assailant is much older and stronger 
than he, so that by his own unaided efforts he could not 
possibly redress the wrong done him. In such a situation 
he will describe his painful experience to his father or 
teacher or big brother, and strive to incite him against his 
tormentor. But to do this with boys of his own age who 
may have aggressed upon him does not appeal to him 
strongly, if he be a typical boy ; though girls assume this 
attitude much more readily. But it seems to the boy to 
show weakness and cowardice, which his crowd has taught 
him are not to be tolerated. So he goes on in his develop- 
ment, feeling that he must personally and directly resent 
all injuries done by one " of his own age and size " until he 
is well past the pubertal epoch. Even high-school boys 
usually prefer to settle their difficulties among themselves 
more or less directly. The sentiment of the group at this 
time is that if one member is insulted by another, the 



DIFFICULTIES WITHIN A GROUP 191 

former must whip the latter. Under normal conditions the 
group will endeavor to bring the two combatants together 
under conditions so that the " best man may win." " A 
clear space and hands off " is a group law when a fight 
is on. 

Allowing for exceptions, there is not a strong tendency 
for the group as such to adjust difficulties between its 
members, — to measure out justice. For children of this 
age, justice is still mainly physical ; the one who can win 
out in a battle is in the right. However, there is an excep- 
tion to this principle in cases where the assailant is mani- 
festly very much stronger than the one he attacks ; the 
group sense of fair play requires that a boy "take some 
one of his size." Sometimes the group will designate one 
of its more capable members to engage the assailant in com- 
bat, thus aiming to restore the group equipoise, which must 
always remain unstable so long as a case of pronounced 
aggression of some member has not been forcibly resisted, 
for in this manner only can it be ascertained whether or not 
he is really a superior person physically. However, once it 
is determined what the relative pugilistic merits of all the 
members of a group are, then the group tends to acquire 
stability, for a time at least, each member playing the part 
which his quality, physical mainly at this stage, entitles him 
to. But there is always more or less tension in any plastic, 
developing group, since the relative abilities of the various 
members is constantly changing ; and the " boss " of the 
" gang " to-day may be dethroned to-morrow by some rival, 
who has in the mean time been gaining strength and cour- 
age. Study any group of boys from eight to fifteen years 
of age for a period of three or four years, and you will note 
first what may appear to be group stability, each member 
contentedly playing the part for which his capacities fit 
him ; but as time goes on you will observe a shifting of the 
players, especially among those in places of leadership, or 
contestants therefor. It is probably rare that a leader of 



192 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

any considerable group holds his position against all comers 
(and there are always aspirants for his place) continu- 
ously throughout the period of the teens. 

In the process of development, usually before the high- 
school period is fully completed, there appears a tendency 

for the individual to refer his conflicts with his 
Genesis ol • . i ft t • 

the judicial associates to the group tor adjustment. In its 

attitude origin this is doubtless due to the effort of the 
group to discover a method other than direct physical con- 
test of righting difficulties among its members. In their 
games, for example, they find it necessary for the welfare 
of all early to have arguments adjudicated through an um- 
pire. Then the practice of relying upon the verdict of a 
supposedly impartial judge in the adjustment of conflicts is 
passed on to children from their elders, and they tend 
through imitation to adopt it even before they are really 
ready for it. But the imitation of outward form tends to 
develop inner disposition, — in this case to restrain the 
impulse to right apparent wrongs directly and instantly. 
Boys of ten do not easily recognize the authority of an 
umpire in any of their games, but they do so with consider- 
ably better success than boys of five. The latter are very 
slow to adopt from any one views not in accord with their 
own when the matters in dispute are of much moment. 
Even the verdict of the father in contests between children 
of five or so is not accepted without violent protest by the 
one against whom it is rendered, provided the latter is given 
freedom to express himself without fear of chastisement. 
It is, no doubt, true that at any period of development the 
individual finds it difficult to recognize the rightfulness of 
a verdict which operates against his own interests ; never- 
theless, by the time he reaches the university period, say, he 
has gained such inhibition upon his impulses that he can 
accede without serious outward protest to the decision of 
the umpire or the judge in his contests or his disputes. 
A study of the life in Eton, as a typical public school of 



THE JUDICIAL -ATTITUDE 193 

England, or of an institution like Boy City at Winona 
Lake, Indiana, or of any of the numerous self- j«„g»^ „ 
governing clubs existing about us, will convince of thojudi- 
any one that it is possible for boys (and girls too, in typical 
of course) from fourteen on to adapt themselves gj^g"^' 
to the group, instead of the individual, method of groups 
adjusting conflicts. In Eton one may see in operation a com- 
plex system of rules relating to daily conduct administered 
entirely by the boys. It is true that final control of the school 
lies with the head master ; but his authority is rarely ex- 
ercised. The school is in effect governed by a senate chosen 
from the Upper Form, or older boys, who have attained 
the highest rank in the school. This method of government 
has done away with the lawless, chaotic, primitive conditions 
which Arnold found in the public schools when he took 
charge of Rugby. There was incessant fighting in the schools 
under the old regime ; it was then regarded as a dishonor for 
a boy to refuse to wage his own battles against his aggres- 
sors. But now it is, as a rule, considered to be a dishonor 
for a boy to disturb the peace of the community by engaging 
in a brawl. He is early made to feel that he must submit 
his case to the body appointed for the purpose of causing 
justice to prevail among all the members of the group. 

The George Junior Republic in New York affords a good 
illustration of the fact that boys from fifteen on can in large 
part restrain the original tendency to redress wrongs directly 
and personally. This group of boys, incapable of conducting 
themselves aright in their home communities, and sent to the 
Republic as juvenile incorrigibles, have, under the leader- 
ship of a director, organized a society in which all difficulties 
and disputes among members are settled through represent- 
atives of the group, or courts, established for the purpose. 
Without here indorsing or criticising the principle upon 
which the Republic is based, we may state the fact that in 
the Republic most boys soon come to regard it as more 
honorable to inhibit their fighting impulses when they are 



194 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

wronged than to give way to them, and to lay their case 
before the court for adjudication. Needless to say, perhaps, 
the penetration of this court is not very keen, judged from 
the adult standpoint ; it cannot analyze motives in a subtle 
way ; its judgments are based on evident and concrete prin- 
ciples of justice ; but it is significant that such modes of 
settlement can prevail at all among boys of this age. We 
shall look into the matter in greater detail when we come to 
the educational aspects of group relations and activities. 

We must now glance at certain differences between boys 
and girls in the expression of the combative impulse. The 
The san- former are, in the early years at any rate, normally 
fen'dmcies sanguinary in their tendencies. When they have 
011)073 differences among themselves, as we have seen, 
they can be adjusted as a rule only by physical contest. The 
boy's fists especially, but also his feet and even his teeth, are 
called into service in his encounters with his fellows. It is 
instructive to listen to boys under ten or twelve years of age 
declaring what they intend to do to some obnoxious rival. 
According to their representations, they are about to knock 
off his head, or punch out his eyes or stomach or liver or some 
other vital member, or they will break his neck or back or 
nose, or crack his skull, or pound his face to a jelly, and so 
on ad nauseam. The talk of even " well-brought-up " boys, 
living with peaceful, socially inclined people, whose attitude 
toward their neighbors is always kindly, is replete with these 
sanguinary terms. They suggest strongly those remote epochs 
when a man's life was full of struggle with his enemies, 
animal and human. The passion for bloody encounter must 
have had its development in those ancient times ; for practi- 
cally everything in modern life is antagonistic to such savage 
conflict, actually or in representation, and all social forces 
are pitted against it. This fierce, inhuman talk of boys from 
five or six onward is to a constantly increasing extent only 
a sort of reverberation from earlier tragic events in human 
life. Observe them when they are apparently most eager for 



THE SANGUINARY TENDENCIES OF BOYS 195 

the blood of some victim, and you will see that they are really 
not possessed of murderous feelings at all. They may, indeed, 
be in a quite harmless frame of mind. But the simulation and 
the expression of cruelty and bloodthirstiness come easy to 
them. They find a remarkable pleasure in reassuring them- 
selves and attempting to convince others that they can, and 
probably will, do frightful damage to any objectionable per- 
son or annoying rival who may chance across their field of 
vision. 

Boys delight to play the role of great fighters. They readily 
assume the bodily attitudes, facial expressions, and vocifer- 
ousness of fierce warriors. Two brothers somewhere near the 
same age will be threatening each other a good part of the 
time, when they are not engaged in some interesting enter- 
prise in which they need to cooperate. Most parents must 
plan to keep their young boys agreeably occupied constantly, 
or conflicts will arise. Boys from three to eight or ten in- 
cline rather toward than away from personal encounters when 
they are in familiar environments, free from harm of any 
sort, and unoccupied. However, when they go out into the 
world, where they meet strangers, they then instinctively 
stand together, and forget their rivalries. But when the en- 
vironment does not compel them to combine their forces, they 
tend to become rivals, and conflicts cannot be avoided. 

Boys of seven and upwards show their combative disposi- 
tion in their " arguing " and debating as well as in their 
fistic encounters. It is a popular saying that boys ^j^^^^ ^^^_ 
" squabble " a great deal. If one boy in a group dencies are 
makes a statement, his adversary may at once deny verbal as 
it, and try to ridicule him, and so to lessen his flg^tio «i- 
achievements in the eyes of the group. For a period counters 
in the life of boys who are much together, they are likely to 
be incessantly in this argumentative attitude ; one wiU not 
accept without contest anything another may say. In his 
actual speech, and also in his tone of voice, facial expression, 
and so on, he will endeavor to humiliate his rival, and show 



196 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

him up to the group, or to any individual who may be near, 
as a person of poor judgment, and not to be relied upon. 
The mere presence of a rival will often incite a boy to verbal 
as well as fistic contest. Even when rivals gather at a 
" party," with the conscious purpose of being " good " and 
well-behaved, the chances are that there will be a contest of 
muscle and fists in short order, unless their energies are at 
once guided into some cooperative activity. When trouble 
does arise and an older person attempts to locate the blame, 
every boy will declare that he was " picked on " or " bullied," 
and he will not be "bossed" by any one. It is not neces- 
sary that a boy should be struck in order to be " picked 
on "; if an enemy " makes faces " at him, or " calls him 
names," or "snickers " at him, and so on ad libitum^ it is 
enough to release his muscles, which are always loaded and 
ready to be discharged on a moment's notice. And his over- 
active imagination, evidently surcharged with the combative 
experiences of his ancestors, easily discovers evil intentions 
in the actions of his rivals, though they may be really in- 
offensive, and have no relation to the combatant at all. 
Girls are less sanguinary than boys in their combative 

attitudes. From three on to adolescence they play 
Girls are . . . j ir j 

lesssan- together without friction much better than boys, 
^°"^^^' though they have conflicts when they compete for 
objects in which they are all interested. But they are much 
less inclined than boys to do their rivals bodily harm. A girl 
is apt to chastise one who has injured her by scolding her 
or threatening to reveal her errors to some person who will 
punish her for her misdeeds ; or she will " call her names," 
or cast aspersions upon her looks, or dress, or conduct, or 
family, or anything that belongs to her, or that she is a part 
of ; or, and this is her most effective method of redress, she 
will not play with her assailant, or visit her, or walk on the 
same side of the street with her. But, as intimated above, 
girls harmonize with one another more easily than boys do ; 
they feel the need of co(5perating and aiding each other 



ATTITUDES TOWARD THE OPPOSITE SEX 197 

much more than their brothers do. They are more social in 
the sense in which this term is generally understood ; though 
it is probable that this distinction cannot be made as between 
mature men and women. Indeed, it is possible that as devel- 
opment proceeds boys acquire social tendencies more rapidly 
than girls, and when maturity is reached they may be some- 
what ahead in social ability. Women seem to be more in- 
dividualistic than men ; they cannot take their " turn," for 
instance, as well as their brothers, nor can they follow the 
rules of the social game as successfully. A woman does not 
appear to be greatly different in social tendency and ability 
from what she was when she was a girl ; but it is altogether 
different with the man. If he attains complete development he 
passes from what might be called the combative stage to the 
cooperative one, when he can work in peace and effective- 
ness with his fellows, and suppress the original disposition 
to "pick on " his associates, or do his rivals physical injury, 
though he may often feel perfectly at ease in his conscience 
when he can drive a professional or commercial competitor 
to the wall. 

In what has been said thus far regarding the combative 
impulse, no reference has been made to the attitudes of the 

sexes in their relations with one another. We have _,. „ .,., 

Tne aitl- 

seen that boys normally resent the aggression of tilde oi the 
other boys, and girls of other girls ; but do boys toward 
resent the aggression of girls, and vice versa f In ^^^^ °*^" 
the early years there are apparently no sex distinctions in 
the give-and-take of daily life. A boy of two, if made angry 
by the aggressions of his sister, will attack her as readily 
as he will attack his brother under similar circumstances. 
So a girl of two will contest with her brothers as readily as 
with her sisters. This attitude continues for several years, 
until the boy is led to inhibit his impulse to injure his 
sister, because of what is constantly said to him, — that he 
ought not to " fight girls," and the like. S. at six will 
" tease " the girls he plays with, but he would not now en- 



198 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

gage with them in physical combat as he will readily do with 
some of his boy playmates. His inhibition has come mainly, 
no doubt, from thie attitude of the people about him toward 
this sort of thing, rather than from any natural feeling of 
restraint with the opposite sex. As yet, girls are to him 
not essentially different from boys. His interest in them 
has reference to the service they can render him in his 
undertakings, or to their disposition to make depredations 
upon his possessions. He likes those girls who know how 
to " do things " ; who are not too " tender," or too easily 
offended ; who can play well, and can show him how to do 
tricks which he wants to learn, or who will share their pos- 
sessions with him. Such girls he will treat kindly and serve, 
just as he will boys under similar circumstances. 

But he is constantly in an antagonistic attitude toward 
those girls who will not gladly play with him or let him 
play with them ; or who try to appropriate his playground 
or any of his belongings. In his talk about boys and girls 
he shows that he is measuring them all by the same gen- 
eral standards of competency in games and plays, in which 
he is interested, and of a willingness to share their goods, 
and not to trespass upon his domain. But it should be 
noted that even if the boy of six recognizes no sex distinc- 
tions in his attitudes of resentment or aggression, neverthe- 
less he wiU be in conflict with boys much more frequently 
than girls, because of the less dynamic tendencies of the 
latter. Girls, even at the age of six, are not as aggressive 
as boys, and so they do not awaken resentful and combative 
impulses so frequently. As development proceeds this dis- 
tinction becomes ever more marked, until when the adoles- 
cent period is reached there is comparatively little cause for 
conflict between the sexes, for one reason because girls as 
a rule restrain their aggressive impulses almost completely, 
and they are not active even in resentment as boys are, 
though when offended they probably "hold a grudge" 
longer. 



THE INFLUENCE OF ADOLESCENCE 199 

Up to the adolescent period the boy will make no greater 
effort to stand well with girls than with boys. In his dress, 
his manners, his conduct, he shows that he is Thein- 
quite indifferent to them ; and the same is true licence of 
of the girls in their attitudes toward boys. It develop- 
often happens that the boy would rather not be these '^^"^ 
well thought of by girls, since he would then lose attitudes 
caste with his boy associates, who desire in him somewhat 
different qualities from what his girl associates do. The 
boy who is much with girls from eight or nine on through 
early adolescence must be more restrained in his actions, 
less muscular and belligerent than when he is with boys of 
the same age. The latter, to employ their own expressions, 
" have no use " for a " girl's fellow " ; so that once a youth 
gets a reputation of being a " sissy-boy " he must encounter 
the ridicule of the group, and he may even have to endure 
physical hardships. 

The group, without deliberate intent of course, aims to 
keep the boy masculine in his thought, feeling, and action ; 
and masculinity always implies a certain degree of rough- 
ness, of pugnacity, of indifference to any sort of physical 
trial. As for the girl, her group normally disciplines her 
rigorously, too, if she exhibits in any marked way the qual- 
ities which make her particularly attractive to boys, espe- 
cially lack of reserve in conduct. From ten or eleven on 
she must not take part freely in boy's games, and must not 
gain the distinction of being "sporty," else she will be 
shunned and shamed by her set. There is thus a period 
when there appears to be antipathy between the sexes ; but 
it is usually in response to group demands rather than 
individual inclination. The individual boy may not feel 
hostile toward girls and their ways and institutions ; but his 
group as such simulates hostility at any rate, and he would 
rather accept the view of the group than to be ridiculed or 
treated as an outcast. 

Finally, in the course of development a point is reached 



200 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

where attraction replaces antagonism or indifference be- 
tween the sexes. Now they make a special effort to be 
agreeable to one another in appearance and in manner, 
characteristics which were without much weight as a rule be- 
fore adolescence. At this point antagonism ceases, and gravi- 
tation overcomes repulsion. The relation is not a cooperative 
one precisely; it is more largely personal. The sexes often 
do not combine for mutual aid in the attainment of ulterior 
ends ; mere contact and personal possession are the objects 
of their association. Consequently, when interest in such 
association is lost, the sexes again lapse into indifference, 
or even into active hostility toward each other. It is probable 
that the bonds between the sexes are on the whole less 
enduring than between the members themselves of either 
sex, in which there is a consciousness of sympathy and 
material gain in cooperative activity. 

Before closing this chapter mention should be made of 
one of the milder forms of the aggressive tendency, which is 
Teasing ®^ chief consequence to parents and teachers in 
modern society. By the completion of the second 
year, at any rate, children manifest a strong tendency to 
" tease." They early discover what will produce assumed 
or real expressions of anger or annoyance in parents or 
brothers and sisters, and then they find delight in stimulat- 
ing these expressions. The " mischievous " child takes the 
mother's thimble when she is sewing, and the mother makes 
believe to pursue the little thief, or she calls after him in a 
voice of simulated anger or threatening. The child is pleased 
at these manifestations, so long as he knows that he will not 
be harmed ; and he will try to have them repeated over and 
over again. He will run as though frightened, or as though 
he would deprive his mother permanently of her thimble. 
If she does not manifest any disturbance over his action he 
will soon cease his play. It is evident that he enjoys the 
experience of arousing make-believe expressions of wrath 
and escaping unharmed from the seemingly angry person. 



THE TEASING ACTIVITY 201 

It is make-believe with the teaser now; but nevertheless, 
the essential trait in all teasing is illustrated in this example, 
the enjoyment of the violent but harmless reactions of a 
disconcerted individual. 

With development the teasing activity becomes constantly 
more prominent, until it occupies the larger part of the 
child's life. Typical boys of four, and girls to a less extent, 
tease every one and everything from which they can get 
angry responses, in some cases simulated, in others real, 
provided they do not suffer any ill consequences from these 
demonstrations. If a boy finds that his father will react too 
vigorously to his teasing, he will pass him by for his mother 
or sister or pet dog or pony, or anything from which he can 
get a harmless reaction but of frightening aspect, viewed 
from without. In some instances the teaser will find plea- 
sure in the mere annoyance which he can cause any living 
thing, even though he cannot secure marked responses there- 
from. S. will tickle the ears of his sleeping dog for a quar- 
ter of an hour at a stretch, meanwhile greatly enjoying 
the abortive efforts of the creature to remove the irritating 
object. He will offer an ear of corn to his pony, and pull it 
away just as he attempts to seize it. He plays all sorts of 
practical jokes on his playmates, and on all the people in 
his home who are not inclined to get even with him speedily. 
He does not select as subjects for his experiments those who 
habitually play jokes on him ; he makes use rather of those 
who are tolerant, or too busy to settle up with him, or too 
lethargic to pay him freely in his own coin. From four on 
through adolescence a boy's mind seems normally to func- 
tion to a considerable extent for the purpose of enabling 
him to tease successfully. 

We may here take note of a mode of teasing which often 
affects the victim seriously, arousing fear in all 
sorts of ways. Children, girls as well as boys, arousing 
secrete themselves and jump out at passers-by, *®" 
shrieking, assuming terrible grimaces, bodily attitudes, and 



202 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

so on. Again, they often threaten to do harm to some un- 
fortunate object of their passion to torment, as breaking his 
neck, or throwing him in the lake, or cutting off his ears or 
his hair, locking him in a dark cellar, and the like. A 
favorite method among some boys of frightening timid chil- 
dren is to tell them horrible tales of burglars or ugly dogs 
or snakes or worms or ghosts or other dreadful creatures, 
that may devour them or sting or bite or burn or crush 
them to death. Two children are playing together a little 
way from the house. The older one, a boy, sees a colored 
man approaching along the walk. At once he says to his 
younger sister, " Here comes a kidnapper ; he is going to 
carry you off." At this the sister runs screaming to the 
house, and the boy laughs heartily, until he discovers that 
the parents may " even up " matters with him. Again, this 
boy, when his sister cannot find her necklace which she 
prizes highly, tells her it has been carried off by a burglar, 
and she cannot find it again. Whatever the victim is most 
afraid of, that is what his tormentors are likely to make use 
of to annoy him. Groups of boys are quick to discover in 
what ways individuals among them are vulnerable, and the 
timid ones will have a hard time of it just as long as they 
continue to be sensitive and to react readily and violently. 
A person who can be plagued about anything, it hardly 
matters what, will not be let alone by some members at 
least of his group. What the tormentor wants is reaction of 
even this peculiar type in his victim ; if he cannot secure it 
he has no motive for continuing his teasing. He is probably 
not eager to cause pain for the sake of the pain merely ; he 
does not think about this, and often he will desist from his 
teasing when he comes to realize that he is making his victim 
miserable. His interest in badgering is very objective and 
dramatic ; it does not extend beyond the outward display of 
fear, anger, and the like. It must be repeated that when a 
boy irritates his sister or mother or his dog or his horse, he 
is without doubt unaware as a rule of the pain he creates ; 



TEASING BY CALLING NAMES 203 

his comprehension of the situation does not include anything 
beyond the immediate response of his victims to his stimukis. 
Possibly the sense of mastery of the things about him, the 
feeling of his being able to reduce them to subjection, plays 
a part in his enjoyment, but it is a minar and practically 
negligible factor. 

Another favorite method of tantalizing is by "calling 
names." If a child has any peculiarity that his fellows can 
detect they will invent a derisive, annoying term 

fFfi3.sliifir 

that suggests it, but in exaggerated or ridiculous by calling 
form, and then they will apply it to the victim ^^^^^ 
for the purpose of irritating him. Every group of boys 
the writer knows has an extensive vocabulary of such terms ; 
but street gangs are most proficient in this form of teas- 
ing. Here are some epithets of this sort which Burk col- 
lected from his correspondents : — 

A long and slender girl or boy is called " Broomstick Legs," 
" Long Legs," " Beanpole," " Gawky "; thin children are called 
« Skinny " ; fleshy ones, "Fatty," " Hubity-hoy," " Big Lumix " ; 
red-haired children, " Sorrel-top," " Red-headed Gingerbread," 
"Reddy," " Torchlight," " Headlight," and " Firehead " ; frec- 
kled children, " Speckled Beauty " ; a boy with disfigured mouth, 
" Catfish Mouth " ; a boy with an extra joint in the thumb, 
" Crooked Thumb " ; hunchbacks, " Crook"; a girl with pecul- 
iar eyes, " Queer Eyes," " Pig Eyes " ; girls with dark complexions, 
" Gypsy," " Indian," " Nigger " ; children wearing spectacles 
"Four Eyes," "Mamma's Old Man"; those who cry easily, 
"Cry Baby," "Hand Organ"; a boy always dodging, "Pos- 
sum "; a boy from the country, " Sparrow," etc. 

When the tension is very great between two individuals, 
they are apt to make use of terms reflecting on the intel- 
lectual, moral, and decent qualities of one another. " You're a 
liar " indicates that relations are strained to the breaking 
point ; and also "You're a fool," or "idiot," or a "knave," 
or a " hog," etc., etc. In the earliest years children do not 
take these names as seriously as they do at a later period, 
after adolescence particularly, when they feel keenly the 



204 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

humiliation of having the qualities of any of these objects 
ascribed to them. The farther development proceeds the 
greater shock is produced in one when he is said to be a 
" liar," say, and the more vigorously will he resent it. So 
with all " names " that suggest defects in morals or intellect 
or decent conduct. The writer has observed groups of boys 
of nine and ten years of age tossing " liar," " fool," " hog," 
back and forth without serious consequences ; whereas with 
groups at any age after adolescence there would be certain 
to be desperate combat. Younger boys catch up these terms, 
realizing that they are derisive, but yet not appreciating 
fully their hideousness. This explains in part why boys call 
one another certain names freely, where men would not dare 
to apply them to each other except under great provocation. 

Allied to the method of tormenting by calling names is 
that of endeavoring to arouse shame. In older children, 
especially among girls, this is a source of great 
arousing annoyance ; but it is not employed so generally 
sMme among boys. Girls pitch upon some unusual or 
unconventional characteristics of one of their number, and 
ring the changes on it. It may be freckles, or an ill-fitting 
dress, or even some family disadvantage, as when a girl's 
mother is a washerwoman, or the like. If the girl has ever 
been accused of telling tales or any meanness, the group is 
apt to make constant use of it to shame her. They will de- 
scribe her mean trait to her face, and then irritate her with 
" Are n't you ashamed of yourself ? " " You are n't fit to be 
with decent people," and so on. 

In concluding this topic, mention may be made of the 
suggestive fact that bullying and teasing are even more 
Teasing common among the children of primitive than of 
among civilized peoples. Speaking of the life of the 
children Kaffir children, Kidd says in his " Savage Child- 
hood":^— 

The system of fagging is well developed. The head-boy fags 
1 Pp. 196-198. 



TEASING AMONG PRIMITIVE CHILDREN 205 

all the other boys and girls under him, and each one in turn fags 
a smaller one if he can. If the head-boy should happen to be 
absent for five minutes, the next big boy will promptly order all 
the others about ; but he abandons his air of superiority as soon as 
the head-boy returns. The fag-master has a glorious time of it, 
for he lies down in the shade and makes all the other boys do his 
work for him, ordering them to fetch him food or drink as he 
may wish. If there should not be sufficient food, the big boy 
makes the little ones go and steal some. If the small boy should 
be found out, he gets the thrashing ; if successful he gets but little 
of the stolen food, for the big boy takes the lion's share. It there- 
fore seems a one-sided affair. But then the little boy looks for- 
ward to the day when he will be able to fag others, and so sees 
that the custom must be kept up. And, moreover, if the little boy 
were to get into a scrape with boys of a rival kraal, his master 
would take his part and fight for him. The small boy is thus 
" under the shadow," or protection, of the big one, and this is no 
small advantage. There is very little fagging amongst the girls, 
for it is said that, in the feminine nature of the Kaffirs, submis- 
sion is somewhat rare. If boys try to fag girls against their wish, 
the girls are said to retaliate by spreading the most atrocious 
slander about the boys, who are somewhat sensitive in this direc- 
tion. 

There is endless teasing and petty bullying amongst the boys, 
as might be expected. Children of two or three years old are 
teased by bigger boys, who declare the mother of the child has 
been divorced and sent back to her father. The small child im- 
agines it will never see its mother again, and is thus very terrified. 
Small boys are chaffed mercilessly by the big ones who have been 
circumcised. These older boys twit the little ones with being but 
babies or girls, and they have a special vocabulary of offensive 
names for the small boys, which cut them to the quick, and which 
leave a nasty and bitter taste in the mouth. A boy is a nonentity 
in the kraal until he is circumcised, and is therefore subject to a 
good deal of chaff, for even the girls throw his immaturity in his 
face. 

When old women have no children, they have to go into the 
fields themselves and frighten away the birds while the crops are 
ripening. They complain very much of their loneliness. The boys 
wait till such an old woman goes to sleep in the pempe ; then 



206 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

they creep up quietly and steal her mealies, and as they are going 
off with their booty, make a noise to awaken her. The "poor old 
creature has no defenders, and gets furiously angry with the 
young rascals, but this only makes them the more merry. Then 
the old woman has to go home crying ; but no one seems to 
trouble much, for old women are of no importance in a kraal; 
they are "cast-off things." It is only fair to add that this treat- 
ment is rarely meted out to any old woman except when she 
makes herself obnoxious to the boys by her sharp tongue. A 
Kaffir boy knows well how to take his revenge in a telling way, 
and most sensible old women take good care to keep on good 
terms with the boys. A woman who was kindly and considerate 
would rarely be teased in this fashion, which is the boy's method 
of self-defense against the uncalled-for intrusions of old Avomen. 
Boys of the same age tease one another by well-known meth- 
ods. One boy will say to another, " Your mother is an ugly old 
thing"; "Your people are all witches and wizards"; "Your 
mother is a crow," and so on. Strange to say, they do not tease 
one another much about their fathers, nor about their sisters. 
The great insults centre round speaking evil of the mother and 
grandmother. If a lad should wish to make the boys of another 
kraal angry, he will let the cattle he is herding graze on the gar- 
dens of the rival kraal, or on ground which the herds of the other 
kraal wish to keep for their own cattle. But a boy would not do 
this unless he were sure he could thrash the boys of the rival 
kraal. If a small boy should cry when he is bullied, he is made to 
herd the cattle all the day, while the bully lies down in the shade 
at his ease. Often a small child is spoiling for a fight; he goes up to 
another boy of about his own size and brandishes his stick over the 
other boy's head, whereupon the insulted boy would have to fight, 
or be considered a coward. But the surest way to make a boy 
fight is to take his stick from him, and hit him over the shoulders 
with it, saying, " You are an old woman ; I hit you with your 
own stick, you tail of a dog." No boy can stand the insult of 
being hit with his own stick. Big boys often tease small ones by 
making them put their hands together, finger-tip to finger-tip. 
The big boy then hits the small one on the back of his hands, say- 
ing, " Point out to me the direction of the hut in which your 
mother's brother was born." This is felt to be a great insult. 



R^SUMf: 207 

The attitude of aggression assumed by one individual is usually the 
cause of the attitude of resentment in the one aggressed upon, so 
that the two attitudes are generally, though not always, Resumd 
found in the same social situation. 

Whenever the child is resisted in his undertakings so that he is 
made angry, he easily assumes a belligerent attitude, which expends 
itself on the victim by striking, kicking, biting, throwing to the 
ground, or the like. The combative impulse is very marked, in boys 
especially, until the adolescent period is well under way. The young 
child is combative as a rule only when he is thwarted in his enter- 
prises, or when his possessions are interfered with by a rival. He does 
not tight for the mere pleasure of fighting, as he may do later on. 

With children from the age of three onward, there appears to be 
an almost irresistible impulse to " get even " with one of their own 
" set " who has intentionally caused them either physical or mental 
pain. They insist upon inflicting direct, concrete pain upon their as- 
sailants, though they may be satisfied if they can witness this being 
done by parent, teacher, or older playmate. Children seem to believe 
(instinctively, of course) in the Mosaic law of an eye for au eye, and 
a tooth for a tooth. 

A six-year-old child does not vigorously resent an injury to his 
"reputation," except in respect to some very concrete and simple 
social relations. Boys of ten desire a good reputation for courage and 
physical endurance and skill, and they will readily attack any one 
who endeavors to injure them with their fellows in these respects. 
After adolescence most conflicts arise out of intentional injury done to 
the " character " of individuals. 

Before adolescence the child does not normally take kindly to sub- 
mitting his conflicts for adjudication to a disinterested outsider ; he 
feels he must " get back " at his assailant directly. Pre-adolescent 
group sentiment favors the settlement of difficulties by contest of 
pugilistic skill. During adolescence there appears a disposition for 
the individual to refer his conflicts to the group for settlement; this 
is the beginning of the judicial attitude. Self-governing schools and 
clubs show that boys in their teens can restrain their original com- 
bative impulses, and endeavor to preserve group equipoise through 
judicial procedure. 

Boys are sanguinary in their belligerent attitudes, whether ex- 
pressed in actual fistic or only in verbal encounters. Girls are less 
sanguinary than boys. They endeavor to retaliate by injuring an 
adversary in her reputation, — social, intellectual, personal, or moral. 

At first there are no distinctions in the attitudes assumed by an indi- 
vidual toward the opposite sex, as compared with those he assumes 
toward the members of his own sex. However, girls are less dynamic 
than boys, especially as development proceeds, which results in boys 



208 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

being in conflict with one another much more frequently than with 
girls. During adolescence boy groups try to keep individual members 
masculine by ridiculing " sissy-boys." After adolescence rivalry be- 
tween the sexes usually ceases, and so they abandon their aggressive 
or resentful attitudes toward one another. 

In modern society, the belligerent attitude is expressed mainly in 
the subdued form of teasing. The child's mind seems to function 
largely for the purpose of realizing his teasing impulses without injury 
to himself. Children are experts in teasing by inciting fear, by " call- 
ing names," by arousing shame, and the like. 



CHAPTER IX 

SOCIAL TYPES 

In the discussion of social attitudes up to this point, it has 
in various connections been suggested that individuals differ 
in some measure respecting the degree to which jjjg pjinoi- 
any tendency is manifested, and the length of the "^^ °* social 
period of its continuance. It has also been men- 
tioned that while children tend normally to abandon a given 
attitude in the process of development, still in some in- 
stances growth may be so arrested from natural or environ- 
mental causes that the unfortunates afflicted in this manner 
remain permanently in this attitude. While the principle of 
individual variability of the character indicated has thus 
been recognized in the preceding discussion, it has still not 
received the attention which it deserves. The aim thus far 
has been to describe those tendencies that all children 
manifest at one point or another in normal development, 
without dwelling upon points of divergence ; and it has 
been left until now to inquire to what extent the young 
differ in the attitudes that have been considered, and 
whether it may be possible to group them into types with 
respect to their general social " disposition." 

We may note at the outset that the principle of social 
types is recognized in " common-sense " philosophy ; popu- 
lar speech and writing contain very frequent allu- individual 

sions thereto. If one will go through the general variability 

o .- r . recognized 

literature treating of concrete manifestations of in popular 

human nature, he will find it possible to group " °^°' 

the types depicted into two main classes. First, there are 

those individuals whose conduct is in the main in accord 

with the requirements of the particular social environment 

in which they live ; and so they win the approval and even 



210 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

the applause of the people in their community. In the 
second place, there is the large class, comprising numerous 
groups of persons who, in one way or another, act in oppo- 
sition to the expressed or implied wishes of the communi- 
ties of which they are members, and so arouse the more or 
less dynamic hostility of their associates. The first type 
may be said to be adaptable. A person of this type either 
adopts the oiler's social creed and practice, or he is capable 
of so influencing the alter that the latter will not assume a 
resistant attitude toward his expressions. An individual of 
this sort lives, on the whole, in congruent relations with his 
fellows and the public at large. An individual of the second 
type is usually " on the off side," either because of unwill- 
ingness or inability to conform to community standards 
and conventions, or because of incapacity to induce his as- 
sociates and the public to accept new standards which he 
attempts to establish. 

Now, may these types be found in childhood or in youth ? 
The remark most frequently heard about the individuals in 
Are there a group of children, whether in the school or in 
cMidhood *^^ home, is that one or more of them may be 
and youth? « agreeable " or " amiable " or " gentle," and the 
like, while others may be quite the opposite. According to 
the observations of the present writer, children from the 
second birthday on differ in the readiness and completeness 
with which they adjust themselves to their comrades, to the 
people in authority over them, or to those with whom they 
have any relations whatsoever. It is not implied in this 
statement that any child is wholly adaptable ; that he offers 
no resistance to the conduct imposed upon him ; nor, on the 
other hand, is it implied that any child is wholly lacking in 
adaptability. It is meant simply that opposition to social 
practice in force in a community is more marked and per- 
sistent with some individuals than with others ; and this 
distinction probably continues into adult life, though it is 
not at all certain that the child of five who is distinguished 



THE ADAPTABLE TYPE 211 

for his antagonism to the alter continues to be in conflict 
with him to the end of his days. The writer has been able 
to keep close account of certain persons who, while in 
trouble with those about them much of the time at five, are 
seldom in conflict with any one at fifteen or sixteen. A 
striking change in attitude occurred in these cases between 
the ages of nine and twelve ; and the new attitude of ready 
adaptability is continuing through the adolescent period. 

The child who is not urgent or " offensive " in pressing 
his interests in opposition to those of the alter will be 
"liked," at least by the adults with whom he Tiieadapt- 
comes in contact. He will be spoken of as a a^Jiotypo 
" gentle " or " agreeable " child. If he shows due deference 
to his elders, serving them, giving way to them, manifest- 
ing humbleness in their presence, and the like, he will be 
" courteous " or " respectful." Unquestionably children 
differ in the readiness with which they adopt the conven- 
tional " manners " which are essential to the courteous 
attitude. The child who does not observe the customary 
formalities, in his relations with his elders especially, will 
be regarded as " discourteous," or " disrespectful," or 
" brazen," and the like, though he may not offend against 
any of the fundamental and really vital social virtues. Or- 
dinarily the child who is deferential will be a favorite with 
his elders and " superiors," because of the pleasure which 
he occasions them in apparently recognizing their impor- 
tance, and not pushing forward his own to the neglect of 
their personality. One who never arouses hostile feeling in 
his associates, adults particularly, will be " angelic," pro- 
vided that at the same time he manifests a reasonable de- 
gree of strength and efficiency in the activities of his daily 
life. 

The individual who is merely a reed, bending before every 
breeze that blows, cannot arouse strong feeling of approval 
or comradeship in most of those with whom he has rela- 
tions, though certain persons, elderly women especially per- 



212 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

haps, think highly of such a type. But the general tendency 

in respect to this sort of individual is especially noticeable 

in the intercourse of children of about the same 

Tho 

"weak" age and social status. The " weak" individual, the 
^^ one who cannot shape events, who cannot deter- 

mine the welfare of others for good or ill, who is always a 
ready follower but never a leader, will be largely ignored, 
or possibly " despised," except as he can be used to advan- 
tage by his more vigorous associates. His companions, in 
order really to approve of him, must feel that he is capable, 
while, at the same time, perhaps, fairly " deferential," " re- 
spectful," and willing, though these latter qualities are not 
much emphasized in child groups. After all, the individual 
who is willing and deferential, — " good," in short, — but 
who is lacking in ability to bring things to pass, will play 
only a subordinate role in his social adjustments. He will 
not seriously offend people or greatly please them, because 
he can neither prevent them from attaining, nor aid them 
to attain, their ends. Such an individual may be a " respect- 
able " and possibly a " nice " person, but he can hardly be 
an " agreeable " one. 

In almost any schoolroom of fifty children there may be 
seen cases of the " agreeable " type, and also of the " nice " 
type. The latter is usually neutral in his influence upon the 
group ; and while he may be approved by the teacher, he 
still does not awaken in her strong feeling of any sort, as 
does the pupil who is capable and at the same time reason- 
ably adaptable, though not too ready to give up his own de- 
signs. The group is at best indifferent to the merely " nice " 
boy ; often it is positively hostile to him because of his neutral 
character, and it plagues and annoys him. The interests of 
the group, of the teacher, of the parent, and of the minister 
are often not the same with respect to certain of the traits 
of an individual child. The minister, the teacher (often, 
though not universally), the grandparents, and the neigh- 
bors desire him to be compliant, submissive, deferential, 



THE TACTFUL TYPE 213 

while the group and usually the parent desire him to have 
initiative and force, — to possess some of the characteristics 
of the leader. On this account the estimate put upon a child 
by the various social groups to which he is related is often 
quite divergent, some commending him, others condemning 
him, while others simply ignore him if he is inclined to be 
at all neutral in character. 

As the individual progresses in his development, and 
maintains a congruent attitude toward his constantly en- 
larging social environment, while at the same Thetaotiui 
time exhibiting force and initiative, he becomes in ^^® 
due course a " tactful " or " diplomatic " person, — one who 
accomplishes his complex ends without seeming to act in 
opposition to the desires of those about him, and the conven- 
tions of the society in which he operates. The more complex 
his relations become, the more necessary it is for him to 
choose his course carefully, deliherately, in order that he 
may achieve his purposes while avoiding conflict. On the 
other hand, the tactless individual moves toward the goal 
he seeks to attain, and he pays little, if any, heed to the 
desires of his fellows or the conventions of society with re- 
ference thereto. He endeavors to remove them from his path 
if they obstruct his way ; and he ignores their reactions 
more or less completely. He is dominated by the idea of 
accomplishing his aim, and he cannot " sense " the interests 
and the attitudes of others with regard to his action ; and 
in any event he " does not care." The tactful individual is 
always delicately responsive to the attitudes of the people 
who are affected by his movements. He is able to antici- 
pate their reactions upon any projected enterprise, and so he 
endeavors to shape his conduct in such a way as to secure 
their approval and their cooperation. As the relations which 
the individual assumes toward his fellows become more and 
more intricate, he passes of necessity from the " tactful " to 
the " diplomatic " person. It is, perhaps, hardly necessary 
to say that the diplomatic attitude is not assumed until well 



214 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

on toward the completion of the developmental process; 
though the fundamental element in this attitude is some- 
times apparent in children at an early age, when they 
endeavor to secure their ends by first arousing pleasant feel- 
ings in the persons to whom they are to appeal for aid. It 
is, however, doubtful if this is a prominent feature in any 
individual's life before the adolescent period. It is true that 
some children are gentler than others in their demands ; 
they avoid direct conflict with those in authority, but yet 
they are hardly diplomatic. The pre-adolescent child is not 
sufficiently reflective to plan deliberately to awaken agree- 
able states in those who are affected by his requests, or to 
make it appear to them that he is not asking anything out 
of the ordinary, or in any way prejudicial to their own in- 
terests, but rather favorable to their well-being. Normally 
the child goes directly to the point at issue in his petitions, 
though some are more " blunt " or domineering or coercive 
than others. In voice and manner they demand what they 
wish instead of appealing for it. But, as a rule, the child in 
his requests represents his needs, whatever they may be, in 
a straightforward way, and he does not plan beforehand to 
present them in such a manner that the real object of his 
desires may not be too apparent at the beginning. As pointed 
out above, some children reveal, in a sort of bullying atti- 
tude, their wishes to those who can grant them, while others 
are supplicative ; but all are, before adolescence, simple, 
direct, and undiplomatic. Diplomacy is an art which is con- 
fined to the later stages of development and to maturity. 
Contrasted with the type of child who is predominantly 
in congruent relations with the people about him, is the one 

who is in conflict with them most of the time. The 
The un- ... ,5 

adaptable child who is largely indifferent to the " respect 

*^° which should be shown to his elders and superiors, 

and treats them much as he does his associates, is apt to 

gain the reputation of being a " forward " or " impertinent " 

or " impudent " individual. It has been noted in the pre^ 



THE UNADAPTABLE TYPE 215 

ceding discussion that all children tend to resist paying 
deference to their elders, but some resist it much more de- 
terminedly and for a much longer period than others. The 
child who is deferential conducts himself differently in the 
presence of the one who is the object of his regard from 
what he does when he is with his fellows. In the latter case, 
if he feels on equal terms with his associates, as he com- 
monly does, he will show no sign of a submissive or humble 
attitude in his relations with them. He will not be at all 
reserved or inhibited in his action, except in the measure 
that all the others in the group are. He will carry through 
a programme of give-and-take in all his activities, with no 
consciousness that he must either take or give all as some 
one else may wish. Toward those who are older and wiser 
and stronger than he, however, he will assume a very dif- 
ferent bearing ; it will now be all give and no take, or the 
other way round, as the case may be. In his bearing, as in 
what he says, he will show that he regards himself, wliether 
consciously or not, as inferior, and so he must wait and 
serve. 

But the child who does not recognize the superiority of 
any one will tend to assume give-and-take relations toward 
his elders, as well as toward his companions, and it will be 
easy for adults to regard him as "impudent," simply be- 
cause he does not observe the conventional attitudes of the 
young toward those who are above them, either in age, ex- 
perience, or social status. On the child's part there may be, 
and probably is, no intention to offend any one, and no 
purpose to show disrespect to elders or others. He merely 
takes it as a matter of course that his father or the minister 
or the teacher is a person to be dealt with as he has learned 
to deal with his companions, alike in work and in play. The 
quality of impudence as ascribed to the child by the adult 
does not exist in the former's consciousness, but arises out 
of the latter's own feeling of irritation over the failure of 
the boy to pay him homage. Thus there is always more or 



216 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

less of conflict between the point of view of the undefer- 
ential child and that of the obeisance-seeking adult who 
comes into relations with him. Of course, if the adult, 
whether parent or minister or teacher or governor, can be- 
come as a child himself, then he will enjoy give-and-take 
relations with the boy, and the question of impudence can- 
not arise in their intercourse. So it happens that a child 
who in a particular home or school or section of a city or 
country would be regarded as original, interesting, frank, 
dynamic, independent, might in another home or school or 
section of a city or country be considered as impertinent, 
impudent, or even insolent. It is commonly the case that a 
child who may be perfectly adaptable in all essentials in 
home, school, or elsewhere, conveys just the opposite im- 
pression to a casual acquaintance because of the non-defer- 
ential character of his outward action. 

In impertinent action, the child does not go far enough 
in his opposition to conventional standards to arouse retalia- 
The imper- tory action against himself ; nevertheless, he irri- 
imBudaaf t^-tes in some measure the people who are afPected 
type by his conduct. Children show marked differences 

in the degree to which they carry their " smartness " or 
impertinence. Some, even though they may not be really 
deferential, are still more impressed than others with the 
" dignity " of elders. The boy schooled on the street, who 
has been bred among rough conditions, is notoriously im- 
pudent, and even insolent. His experiences have been such 
that he has developed a general resistant and even aggres- 
sive attitude toward adults at any rate. He has been hunted 
and preyed upon (as he feels) much of the time, and instinc- 
tively he reacts by resisting the enforcement upon him of 
respect and deference, or by preying in any way he can 
upon those around him. Consciously and purposefully he 
annoys those who appear to be in authority over him, or 
who make any claims upon his regard. As he develops, and 
begins to manifest this general attitude toward persons of 



THE ATTITUDE OF SCORN 217 

his own age and station, he comes gradually to assume a 
" contemptuous " attitude. He " looks down " upon an 
associate who cannot contribute in any way to his pleasure 
or advancement. If he is a boy in the street, he usually 
aggresses upon the individual for whom he has contempt, 
bullying him into a servile attitude. He becomes " scornful" 
and " disdainful " of those who are much less skillful than 
himself in street life. Last of all, he msij assume a " sneer- 
ing" or " scoffing" attitude toward those who were once of 
his own circle, but who have deeply stirred his animosity 
by trying to excel him, or usurp his position as a leader in 
any of the social situations in which he is placed. 

The scornful or disdainful or sneering attitude is never 
seen in young children, or in older persons of a meek or 
humble disposition. It is first manifested toward The attitude 
the latter part of the adolescent period, when o*soom 
rivalry for social advancement becomes keen and the moral 
sense is sharpened. This attitude can be taken only when 
the direct, muscular expression of emotion begins to be re- 
strained in favor of other less dynamic, though none the less 
effective, methods. If a boy of nine or ten could assume the 
general emotion indicated by the terms disdain or scorn, he 
would tend to express his feelings muscularly upon the per- 
son of the one who aroused the attitude. Nothing but phy- 
sical chastisement would fully satisfy him. But with the 
adolescent, the severest punishment he can inflict is to 
awaken in his rival the feelings always stimulated by the 
sneering attitude. The sneer, as a rule, penetrates into the 
innemiost recesses of the life of the one against whom it is 
direcied, and wounds the social self. Only the non-executive 
type ♦f person, possessing strong, dominant feelings of an- 
tipathy, can easily assume the attitude of scorn or disdain. 
Lateron, as he comes into vital contact with the institutions 
of socEty, he may become a scoffer. In this attitude he does 
not attempt to express his feeling in an effective way in 
the effort either to modify or to abolish the institutions 



218 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

against whicli he rails. He simply feels deeply and antago- 
nistically concerning them, and he seeks to spread this feeling 
among others through the verbal expression of his hostile 
attitude. It is probable that the dynamic individual does 
not tend normally to scoff at individuals or institutions ; 
this is more prominently the attitude of the static type, the 
one whose emotions are active but who is not able to bring 
to pass the reforms he desires. 

We may now look at a different variety of social attitudes 
which are characteristic to a degree of all children, but which 

^ ^ , are more marked in some than in others. There 
The frank . ^ • i c 

"open" IS first the attitude of "openness," of frankness 

' in social relations. Contrasted with it is the atti- 

tude of secrecy, of deception, of deceitfulness. The frank 
child is naive and unrestrained in the expression of his 
thoughts and his feelings. He is "real," "candid," "gen- 
uine," " straightforward," " disingenuous." From one point 
of view he may be said to have moral courage ; he is ready 
at all times (not designedly but rather impulsively) to take 
the consequences of his actions. As a young child he is 
simply naive and frank ; but as he develops, so that his 
conduct in relation to his fellows becomes more complex, 
and the straight way is increasingly difficult to follow, he 
may become " sincere " and " genuine." He publishes things 
as they are, so that no one may be deceived by his repre- 
sentations. He does not shield the self from the natural con- 
sequences of its action ; nor does he as a rule try to sfcure 
goods he desires by artifice whereby the alter is misled. 

But contrasted with this is the type in which there ;s the 
opposite of frankness ; there is slyness and concealment of 
The deceit- purpose and method of action. This type is not as 
fuitype naive or " open," not as direct or as simple as the 
first. An individual of this type really lacks moral courage, 
so that he seeks to attain his ends by misrepreseatation 
when this promises to save him trouble or to secure goods 
he desires which he could not otherwise obtain. He strives 



THE COMMUNICATIVE TYPE 219 

to avoid the consequences of illegitimate action by endeavor- 
ing to make it appear as being in accord with the demands 
of those in authority or of public sentiment. As he develops, 
and his life broadens, he is likely to become insincere. He 
may knowingly and deliberately, and as a matter of habit, 
misrepresent matters in which he has a personal interest, to 
the end that he may gain some momentary advantage. This 
is the deceitful, unreliable type. The aim of the frank type 
is to portray events as they have actually occurred ; or to 
describe his intentions and his aims precisely as he conceives 
them, even though he may realize they are not in accord with 
community standards as expressed in customs or rules or 
laws. The aim of the second type is to conceal his real in- 
tentions if he feels they are in conflict with the desires of 
the alter; and while really keeping to his original purposes 
he may seek to win the approval of the alter by pretending 
to espouse different ones. In any group of fifty children 
from the fourth year of age forward, there will almost cer- 
tainly be found individuals who will illustrate these con- 
trasted types. 

In the preceding paragraphs the term " openness " has 
been employed to designate the type of child who does not 

attempt to conceal those of his actions that may „^ 

^ _ •' The corn- 

result disadvantageously, first to the alter and municativa 

then perhaps to himself, or that have for their 

end to solicit favors from the alter. But in popular usage, 

"openness" denotes another attitude characteristic in a 

measure of all children, but more marked with some than 

with others. To illustrate : S. at eight seems utterly unable 

to keep any experience " to himself." It seems imperative 

that he should communicate all that he sees or does, or that 

is done to him. It is as though he were under strain and 

tension until all that has entered into his thought or feeling 

passes from him out into his social environment. Every 

experience he has is a sort of charge on the expressive 

nervous mechanism, and equilibrium cannot be restored 



220 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

until discharge occurs. But V. is not so ready in ex- 
pressing himself. He "lives more within himself." He 
either does not feel an impulse to express experiences which 
S. would unhesitatingly communicate ; or if he does have 
such a feeling he is able to inhibit the action ; or, perhaps, 
he may not be able to overcome the natural resistance to 
expression. The latter type more than the former is con- 
scious of self. S. simply communicates everything regard- 
less of the way the alter will take it, except that he may 
to some extent restrain himself when it is evident that the 
reaction of the people about him will be hostile ; though 
he wiU take hazardous chances in this regard. 

But V. is more sensitive to the attitudes of the alter as 
revealed in facial expression and the like, and this makes 

him more cautious than S., more " reserved " 
conscious possibly. S. is apparently confident (though not 
*^^ reflectively so) that the alter will receive his ex- 

pressions hospitably anyway, and so he is not keen in 
noting just how the people who look at or listen to him are 
reacting to his expressions. He seemingly enjoys the act of 
expression so much that consciousness cannot take account 
of the social effects thereof. Not so with V., however, or at 
least not to such an extent as with S. The former feels the 
responses of the alter more readily than the latter; he is 
not so completely dominated by his own action. He shows 
this in his tendency to become embarrassed when the atten- 
tion of a company is centred on him. S. will perform tricks 
before a group of his playmates or his elders without hesi- 
tancy or " self -consciousness " ; but V. is apt to be " shy " 
or "timid" under such circumstances. 

At school S. will in his games readily play as best he 
can the role of any living thing which is suggested to him, 

and he will " act it out," no matter who is ob- 
dramatio serving him, or what their expressions may be. 
^* He is not confused when the attention of the 

group is concentrated on him. But it is different with V., 



THE DRAMATIC TYPE 221 

who cannot "show off" without embarrassment, except in 
the presence of those before whom he has frequently ex- 
hibited himself under various assumed personalities. In the 
presence of strangers he is " bashful," and resists the 
efforts of visitors to induce him to perform for their enter- 
tainment. S. seems more confident than V. that he can go 
through with any " stunt," and that whatever he does will 
be well received by his audience ; he is not greatly concerned 
about their attitudes anyway. V. has a more or less instinct- 
ive dread of exhibiting himself, making himself prominent, 
attracting attention to himself, at least in the presence 
of unfamiliar persons. His reactions indicate that he is 
afraid of ridicule ; he is apprehensive lest those who observe 
him will " make fun" of him. He has, so far as is known, 
had no distressing experience from performing before 
others, so that his attitude is largely an instinctive one. 

These types may be seen at every period of development. 
In adolescence there are the open, communicative individ- 
uals, and those who are reserved, and even taciturn. The 
latter individuals, more than the former, " keep things to 
themselves" ; they are seemingly less confident that their 
expressions will be hospitably received by those who are 
affected by them. The former type tends to communicate 
all details of personal experience, while the latter type 
may communicate only the more important results thereof. 
The former type solicits the applause of people, and acts so 
as to attract demonstrative attention, while the latter type 
may shrink to a greater or less degree from being put in 
any conspicuous position, even with the likelihood of re- 
ceiving the cordial responses of people. The retiring individ- 
ual doubtless keeps out of the public gaze, mainly, though 
not wholly, because of a feeling of inability adequately to 
meet all the requirements demanded by the public. 

It will be appropriate, before closing this chapter, to 
mention types of children differentiated according to the 
degree of their sensitiveness to the feelings and desires of 



222 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

those with whom they come in contact in any way. Here is 
a boy, K., who seems constantly to be making quite unhappy 
The hector- those who are younger or weaker than himself, 
ing type His associates say that he " picks on " other boys ; 
and in all sorts of ways he annoys the girls who may be 
within badgering distance. He is described by many of his 
playmates as " mean " and " tricky " and " disagreeable." 
He seems to enjoy getting his associates into trouble, pro- 
vided the outcome is not too serious for them or for himself. 
He is much of the time in a bullying attitude toward his 
associates, and in a resistant attitude toward his elders and 
superiors. In school he annoys the teacher a great deal, and 
she must frequently " change his seat " because he makes 
it unpleasant for those who have seats near him. If any 
classmate " tells on " him he will not forget it for many a 
day, but wiU make life miserable for the tattler. He does 
not forgive, nor does he ask forgiveness. He appears to 
enjoy a preying life ; always he is plotting to annoy or to 
torment some one who cannot react effectively enough to do 
him injury. When he is on the playground engaged in games 
his associates are continually on the lookout lest he trip 
them up or kick them or poke them, or take advantage of 
them in some other way. He likes to play practical jokes, 
and to turn the laugh on a person who is peculiar in any 
respect. At the same time he vigorously resents being " picked 
on," and he will " get even " if he can with any one who 
turns the laugh on him. He likes to prey on others, but he 
reacts in every mean way he knows how upon those who 
prey on him. 

Contrasted with this bullying, belligerent type is the 
meek individual, the one who does not prey upon his fel- 
Themeek ^ows as the other type does, and who may not 
type even vigorously resist the aggressions of others. 

This type is not likely to be very definitely marked in the 
earliest years, since all children tend normally to aggress 
and to resist aggression. But by the third year, at any rate, 



THE MEEK TYPE 223 

there begins to be differentiation of individuals in respect 
to the characteristics in question. While one individual 
may continue on in his preying tendencies, another may 
commence to get control over these tendencies, and to 
manifest greater regard for the feelings and interests of his 
associates. J. in her ninth year illustrates this latter type. 
She does not often now cause others annoyance ; and there 
is never any complaint from those younger or weaker than 
she that she is "mean " or " disagreeable." She does not prey 
upon any one now, whether they be younger or older than 
herself, or of the same age. Her teachers for several years 
have had no fault to find with her behavior. She readily 
forgives and forgets the minor injuries done her, even by 
K. who sometimes annoys her as he does others ; though 
she has a tendency to resist his depredations. She has ap- 
parently a " kindly feeling " toward every one. She enjoys 
her associates, and indeed all with whom she comes in con- 
tact, and she seems to be happy in conducting herself so 
as not to irritate them. She probably does not reflect that 
she ought to make others happy ; in all likelihood she acts 
spontaneously in ways which do not arouse opposition in 
those who are affected by her action, while K. acts in just 
the other way. J. is generous in sharing her possessions 
with those about her, and she is grateful to those who serve 
her in any way. If she be criticised by her parents for sins 
of omission or commission in her daily life, she rarely now 
makes any defense. She is not humiliated or angered or 
even made uncomfortable ; she just naively accepts her 
chiding, and goes on with the enterprises in hand as soon 
as her critics release her attention. She is a meek individ- 
ual. 

No more need be done here than to mention a principle 
which has been referred to in another connection, Deveiop- 
the principle of plasticity in types during child- JJ^atiTn^" 
hood and youth. It is the common thing for a in types 
headstrong child to become docile and even meek in youth. 



224 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

Frequently a belligerent boy, the bully of the group at 
seven, becomes the most peaceable and inoffensive member 
of the group at twenty ; and the principle applies to all 
types whatsoever. It is not too much to say that one cannot 
tell from observing the social tendencies of a young child 
what traits will be dominant in him in maturity, though if 
all educative influences can be controlled and directed, it 
may be possible to make a rough sketch of the disposition 
when it shall have ceased to be plastic, or relatively so. 

The principle of social types is recognized in "common-sense" 
philosophy. In popular literature people are grouped into two main 
classes, — those who do and those who do not readily adapt 
themselves to the views, the customs, and the institutions of 
the communities in which they live. These " types " exist in childhood 
and youth as well as in maturity, according to the prevailing con- 
ception. 

The adaptable child is usually regarded by his elders and superiors 
as " gentle " or " agreeable," while the unadaptable type is considered 
to be " headstrong " or " disrespectful." The adaptable individual may 
lack independence, initiative, and self-confidence to such a degree that 
he is regarded as " weak " and ineffective in life. Some older people 
may enjoy such a type, because he is non-resistant to their advances; 
but his fellows as a rule will either " use " him, ignore him, or despise 
him. A " nice " boy does not get on well in the give-and-take of group 
activity, though he may receive the encomiums of his grandparents, 
his minister, his teacher, and possibly his parents. With development 
the adaptable individual may become " tactful " and " diplomatic." 

The unadaptable child is likely to gain the reputation of being 
"impertinent" or "impudent" or "insolent" if he treats his elders 
and other "dignified" personages in the community as he does his 
group associates. The boy schooled on the street is almost certain to 
develop an insolent attitude toward the conventions of society, and 
those who conspicuously observe or defend them. In time insolence 
may develop into scorn or disdain, which attitudes may be assumed 
alike toward persons, toward customs, and toward institutions. 

In childhood, as in youth and maturity, one may see the " naive," 
"frank," "open" type, which in the course of development is apt to 
develop into the " genuine " and *' sincere " type. This type of person 
publishes experience just as he perceives and interprets it, regardless 
of the outcome upon his own fortunes. In contrast to this type is the 
deceitful type, whose tendency it is to conceal the motives and out- 
come of his actions if they are likely to result to his disadvantage. 



R^SUMJfi 225 

Children may be distinguished according to the readiness and com- 
pleteness with which they communize their experiences. The commu- 
nicative type is always eager to tell all that is seen or heard or 
experienced in any way, while the non-communicative individual 
"keeps things to himself." 

Some children are more self-conscious than others, and are not as 
free and easy in exhibiting themselves, especially before strangers. 
They are said to be " timid," or " bashful," or " retiring," perhaps 
even "modest." The dramatic type of person readily impersonates 
characters, and " acts them out," seeming not to be conscious of the 
reactions of his audience. But the self-conscious individual appears 
always to be under restraint, on account of undue concern about how 
the alter will regard his expressions. 

Finally, the badgering type is often seen in childhood and youth; 
and contrasted therewith is the meek type, which is comparatively 
non-resistant to the demands of elders and superiors, and often to the 
aggression of equals. 

But all types in childhood and youth are plastic; and it is commonly 
seen that a child with very pronounced social tendencies at five may 
at twenty-five exhibit just as pronounced tendencies of an opposite 
character. 



PART II 

SOCIAL EDUCATION 



CHAPTEE X 

FROM A NATIONAL STANDPOINT » 

One can best discuss any phase of American education in 
its larger aspects only after he has studied the civiliza- 
tion of older countries, in the effort to ascertain Light on onr 
what has been the influence upon national and indi- ^]J^^ 

vidual life of various educational ideals and prac- ^°^ "i"^" 

'^ oivillza- 

tices. It should, of course, be acknowledged at uona 

the outset that it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to 
discover just what part education in the strict sense has 
played in determining the career of any people, since it 
is but one of many cooperating factors. Still, while we 
cannot be precise in regard to details, we can nevertheless 
present with much confidence a few large and important 
principles pertaining to the educational experience of Eu- 
ropean countries, more or less closely related to our own 
in respect to intellectual and temperamental characteristics, 
as England, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. Such an 
inquiry will lead us to consider, in the first place, certain 
general conditions and methods of education which deter- 
mine the outcome for social efficiency in national and in- 
dividual life of any system of instruction. One may observe 
teachers in European schools giving specific lessons in ethi- 
cal and moral conduct which apparently are almost if not 
entirely fruitless in their effect upon the daily social ad- 
justments of pupils, probably because the larger problems 

^ As these pages are passing through the press the author has seen Moral 
Instruction and Training in Schools, edited by Sadler. In this book it seems 
to be shown beyond question that while certain. European countries are 
striving to introduce into the schools courses in moral instruction, they are 
accomplishing little if anything in this work, because they have not at- 
tacked the fundamental problem in moral training, which is discussed in 
this chapter. 



230 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

of social training have received but little serious study. 
It does not seem precipitous, in view of .what has gone be- 
fore, to say here that social efficiency is not a simple matter 
to be developed by formal instruction in set exercises, as 
in geometry, for example, though special instruction may I 

doubtless be made of service if the general conduct of educa- 
tion prepares adequately for it. So we must first turn our 
attention to the brief consideration of these more general 
conditions, as preliminary to our discussion of specific meth- 
ods of social training. 

It may be stated at the outset, as the most fundamen- 
tal conception of social education, that the supreme problem 
The point ^^ ^^^^ work is SO to train each oncoming gener- 
oiTiew ation that the nation may continue to grow in 
strength, stability, and efficiency. This is borne in upon one 
with irresistible force as he surveys the ruins of ancient 
peoples, and as he sees that European nations, only recently 
leaders in all the world's activities, — intellectual, artistic, 
commercial, — have already entered upon their decadent 
period; although, since there is everywhere an awakening 
to the danger of degeneration, it is possible that decay may 
be retarded or in some cases quite successfully resisted. We 
need not at this point dwell at any length upon the theory 
current among us that nations like individuals must pass 
through their seven ages, from infancy to old age ; but we 
may readily grant that as one studies the peoples of the 
Old World he sees clearly why men believe the doctrine. 
And yet there is at least one European nation that is ap- 
parently warding off old age, and possibly even regaining its 
youth ; which phenomenon has been witnessed several times 
in the history of nations. There seems to be no reason in the 
law of things why the social organism should not be able to 
perpetuate itself, acquiring even greater stability with in- 
crease of years, if only it understood how to adapt each new 
generation to the changing conditions resulting inevitably 
from the evolution of the race. 



THE POINT OF VIEW 231 

The dogma that the social organism is subject to pre- 
cisely the same developmental and degenerative laws as the 
biological organism has already been abandoned by compe- 
tent students, though it still lingers on in popular philosophy. 
The fact that in the social organism new individuals are 
constantly appearing, which gives us an opportunity con- 
stantly to reshape them to become adjusted to varying 
environmental conditions, makes the social quite different 
from the biological organism in respect to continuity of ex- 
istence. It is true the social organism tends, through social 
heredity, to become settled in definite and permanent 
habits of action, with the residt that it cannot, or at least 
does not, adjust itself readily enough to changing circum- 
stances, and so in due course it weakens or decays altogether. 
But here is revealed the real function of education, — so to 
equip the new members of the social organism, with ideas 
and with modes of conduct, that they may be able to dis- 
cern the requirements for continued prosperity, and that 
they may have such control over their actions that they can 
adapt themselves to the needs of any situation. 

To impress this general principle, it may be added here 
that education in decadent European countries to-day fails 
to accomplish effectively either of the ends just indicated ; 
the people have not been trained so that they can see what 
is demanded in order to preserve the vitality of the nation 
under changing conditions, and they are on the whole un- 
able to resist sensuous pleasures of the moment for ends of 
greater and more permanent value in a social, intellectual, 
and aesthetic way. This problem of education is essentially 
a social or moral one. Loss of moral stamina is always the 
beginning of degeneracy in national life. Ask any unpre- 
judiced student of affairs in Spain or Italy, for instance, 
what is the trouble with his country, and he wiU tell you in 
effect that it is morally weak, and so has lost or is losing its 
vigor. Looked at in the large, what we mean by morality 
is just those modes of conduct that are requisite for indi- 



232 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

vidual and national ascendency, not at the expense of other 
individuals and nations, but through a more and more per- 
fect understanding of the laws of nature for the purpose 
of utilizing them for human well-being, and also through a 
continually increasing perfection in social organization and 
cooperation. Whatever lessens vitality and threatens decay 
in the long run is immoral ; and by decay is meant a nar- 
rowing of the range of individual and national interest and 
activity, concentring it ever more largely upon mere physi- 
cal existence, with a consequent decline in the sum total 
of the happiness of a people. 

The history of nations shows that, as a rule, when they 
are developing vigorously in their youth they exhibit the 
The crucial fundamental social virtues. Then the people are on 
toeufo^f the whole temperate, honest, patriotic, industrious, 
a nation frugal, law-abiding, charitable, and so on. This 
applies as fully, doubtless, to contemporary civihzations as 
to those of an earlier day, which were of a military char- 
acter. To develop the resources of a country, and compete 
with other countries commercially, requires that most of 
the people, at any rate, should conserve their forces, and 
employ them in profitable ways. Again, it requires that 
the social organism should be well adjusted internally, so 
that the majority of its members may engage freely in 
profitable production. This implies observance of the social 
law in all its fundamental features. But when a nation 
achieves success in its endeavors, when the struggle for ex- 
istence or for the attainment of ideals begins to grow less, 
and leisure and luxury increases, then comes the crucial 
epoch in the lives of nations as of individuals.^ The evi- 
dence everywhere before one's eyes in the Old World indi- 
cates that there most of the nations, at any rate, have not 

^ I purposely leave aside the consideration of such questions as the in- 
crease in the population of a country beyond the means of subsistence for 
all. Matters of this sort lie outside the scope of our present inquiry, though 
they are, of course, of vast importance in a study of all the causes of 
national decay. 



THE CRUCIAL PERIOD 233 

yet learned how to employ their leisure and their wealth so 
as to insure continuous development, or even to maintain 
the stage of development already reached. Among ancient 
peoples, — and the principle appears to hold for the majority 
of modern nations, — the marked increase in luxury among 
the few, together with the gradual exhaustion of the re- 
sources which produced it, invariably led first to moral and 
then to physical disintegration. This without question sug- 
gests the gravest problem which confronts the American 
nation to-day. Even though one be a confirmed optimist, he 
cannot ignore the striking lesson that is taught us by deca- 
dent peoples. 

Wealth is being amassed with alarming rapidity in our 
land ; the natural resources are being developed with fever- 
ish haste ; and already in a few regions they appear to be in 
considerable part exhausted. Everywhere one feels the really 
terrific strain for material gain. And for the moment all is 
well ; on the whole the nation is sound morally, or so it seems 
in contrast with decadent older nations. But we have hardly 
yet reached the period when the moral vitality of our nation 
has been tested, though we are surely approaching it rapidly. 
We are on the whole still in the period of our youth, the 
period of conquest, when the pursuit of great ends, even of a 
material character, requires the observance of social regula- 
tions in their fundamental bearings. But even now there are 
signs of the disintegrating influence of luxury among the ex- 
tremely wealthy in American life, just what one finds in deca- 
dent European nations, and what one knows to have been true 
of extinct civilizations, like that of Rome. With us this small 
group of over-wealthy individuals has already lost interest 
in ends of national and individual prosperity, in matters of 
permanent value, and they are giving themselves to the 
pursuit of sensuous pleasures. One knows what this must 
lead to if it is not checked, for it has been demonstrated time 
and again in older countries. 

The point to be noted is that the degenerative process 



234 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

always begins when a considerable part of the people in a 
nation ffive themselves up to gross pleasure seek- 
problem in ing ; and it is therefore the chief problem of edu- 
eduoation ^^^[qj^ to avert this catastrophe. And what may 
be done about it ? In the first place, the school must strive 
to interest the young in ends other than those of a purely 
physical and temporary character. It must in someway set up 
intellectual, aesthetic, and social ideals (the religious ideals, 
vital and essential as they are in individual and national 
life, cannot be considered here), which will restrain the pur- 
suit of material gain and mere sensuous gratification. If 
this cannot be achieved, our situation is a hopeless one. Take 
Italy, for example ; her schools have concerned ^ themselves 
largely with mere linguistic training. So far as one can dis- 
cover, there are few if any large conserving interests devel- 
oped among the pupils in these schools. The art galleries of 
Italy attract thousands of visitors yearly from all parts of 
the world, but the school children seem to have only slight 
aesthetic interests, and high-grade art makes scarcely any 
impress for good upon their lives. The Neapolitans, as an 
instance, seem to know less about the art treasures in their 
city than do many persons in America, England, or Germany. 
As a people they apparently have but few intellectual or 
other conserving ideals, which can stimulate them to self- 
restraint and high endeavor in a time of severe strain and 
stress in national life. When one goes into the schools 
he can observe little but mere formal work, which exerts 
hardly any influence upon the springs of aspiration and of 
conduct ; and this must be one cause of the present unhappy 
condition of the nation, as authorities like Professor Gar- 
landa ^ of Rome are pointing out with vigor to-day. 

^ As these lines are being -written the report comes from Italy that a 
supreme effort is about to be made by the government to make the schools 
more efficient in training the young for contemporary life. 

2 Professor Garlanda's views on the causes of Italy's troubles are presented 
in part in his II Terzia Italia ; but his opinions respecting the need of fun- 
damental educational reform in Italy were stated at length to the writer 
personally in 1905. 



ESTHETIC INTERESTS 235 

When one studies Italian childhood of to-day, he becomes 
convinced that it does not mean much for social education 
to have the young simply live in the vicinity of Deveiop- 
sesthetic things, though such a theory is current ™sth\°Jo 
among teachers in our own country. It would be interests 
about as reasonable to say that a man who could not read 
would receive great intellectual benefit from having Shake- 
speare in his library. To profit by Shakespeare, one must 
be able to assimilate his thought, and carry it into action. 
Shakespeare will influence those only who are on about 
the same plane of intellect and experience with him. So in 
the establishment of aesthetic interests, any great work of 
art in the world can influence an individual's life only 
when he is led up to the artist's sphere of thought and feel- 
ing ; and this means that he must have something of the 
same real, vital, aesthetic experience as the artist. In the 
attainment of this end formal lessons in drawing will be of 
slight avail. Even " analysis " of great works of art will 
accomplish but little. That training alone will be educative 
in an effective way which causes the pupil constantly to 
make choices among varying aesthetic values, and to pro- 
duce cesthetic things. From the beginning to the end of 
his education he must be kept in direct contact with aes- 
thetic environments, within his range of appreciation, being 
aided in the assimilation and production of aesthetic values 
according to his degree of development. We may count 
upon it as certain that the results of all the world's aesthetic 
activities will have social worth for the individual, and 
become ends for his own endeavors, only as he grows to 
assimilate them in the manner indicated. The principle 
was long ago recognized by Aristotle, who maintained that 
one who could not execute music could not best appreciate 
it. Modern psychology maintains that perception and ex- 
pression, apprehension and execution, go hand in hand. It 
is a matter of the very simplest daily observation that one 
can adjust himself tq those things only, of any degree of 



236 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

complexity, that lie within the general field of his own 
achievements. Simply looking at or listening to these things 
does not imply effective appreciation of them. 

The principle then is, that in American life we must 
make every effort to develop aesthetic interests in all the 
pupils of the schools, by giving them mtal aesthetic experi- 
ence from the beginning to the end of their educational 
career. This most older civilizations have failed to do. Art 
of a certain kind was, a few generations ago, developed to 
the highest point in Italy, as an example ; but only a small 
proportion of the people were really affected by it. The 
great body of the populace, upon whom the life of any na- 
tion depends, was not largely influenced by it in their feel- 
ing and conduct. Besides, the aesthetic interest of even the 
few was exceedingly narrow in its scope and content. Paint- 
ing, and religious painting at that, touches but a small part 
of the whole of life ; and if the aesthetic activities of any 
people are limited mainly to this form of art, the results 
must be more or less neutral, so far as the majority of the 
people are concerned. The present-day German conception 
is a much more comprehensive and effective one, so far as 
the social outcome upon the thought and feeling of the nation 
is concerned. The Germans, more than any other people it 
seems, are incorporating art into the practical activities of 
every-day life. The objects one employs in his daily work, 
for instance, are being made aesthetic ; and these probably 
affect him for good far more profoundly than pictures hung 
upon the walls or painted on the ceilings of churches. Here 
is a principle of immeasurable importance for our American 
schools. We must endeavor to develop in all our people 
aesthetic interests, which will dominate them in their com- 
monplace, if you please, activities, and become ends for the 
utilization of their energies. It will doubtless be granted 
without argument that the opportunities in this respect are 
unlimited ; man's aesthetic needs can never be fully met, as 
they concern the things he must use in the struggle for 



INTELLECTUAL INTERESTS 237 

existence. Of pictures he can easily have an excess, so that 
many of them he may not respond to at all ; but it is 
otherwise with the furnishing of his home and its environs, 
the tools he uses, and the like. 

In a study of European life one is struck with the almost 
total lack of what might be called intellectual interests 
among the masses in many of the countries. Let Deveiop- 
us glance at Italy again. The horizon of the people, ^u^g"*^^" 
even those engaged in intellectual pursuits, is interests 
bounded largely by the immediate present, alike in time 
and in space. They know but little concerning the great 
movements of the day outside of their own country, or even 
outside their own province. One finds university professors 
even who are quite ignorant of what men in other countries 
are doing in their special fields, though a few of them are 
among the world's most advanced scholars. Further, these 
people as a whole have little knowledge of the literature or 
history of any other country than their own ; and they have 
only a formal and sort of vainglorious interest in their own 
history and achievements. The desire to know for the sake 
of understanding has practically died out in this land, 
probably because the schools do little if anything to foster 
it. From the primary school to the university almost every- 
thing is traditional ; learning is prepared in formal doses, 
and it must be taken just as prescribed. The instructor 
hands out the doses, in the text-books or the lectures, and 
the pupils raise no queries nor make any objections. 

One looks in vain usually for the inquiring mind among 
the students. The teachers will tell you there are such ; but 
how can they tell, since little opportunity is given for the 
love of knowledge, real^ vital knowledge, to manifest itself ? 
The studies make demands upon memory almost exclusively, 
and the instructors, speaking generally, make appeals to 
this faculty only. Inquire of a lyceal teacher why he does 
not give his pupils some opportunity to discuss the subject 
he is teaching them, or to ask him questions, or why he 



238 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

does not ask them questions in order to get their opinions, 
and he will tell you that there is no time for such work. 
The central authority at Rome lays out his programme for 
him, and he must cover the ground, which does not provide 
for awakening the desire for knowledge, but only to impart 
so many traditional facts. The same is true in principle in 
the universities, in the elementary schools, in the normal 
schools even. 

Italy is thus cited as an instance of arrest, or perhaps 
introversion, in respect to intellectual interests, with the 
purpose of showing what we must strive in every way to 
avoid in our American schools. Happily we have faith in 
the importance of developing a genuine love of vital know- 
ledge, which should lead our pupils to explore every phase 
of nature, and human nature, in the attempt to discover how 
things are constituted and how they operate. Out of this 
searching should come in time practical values; but the 
greatest good lies in the opportunity it affords for utilizing 
the leisure and the energy of our people in healthful, con- 
structive pursuits. It is not enough at all that a few should 
have this interest, as in Greek and Roman civilization ; but 
it must be generally disseminated among the people, who 
must be kept in sympathy with the suggestions made by in- 
vestigators if progress is to be made continually. If it be 
possible to awaken the minds of the majority of our people 
so that they will be incessantly looking forward and search- 
ing for truths still uncovered, it seems that we should be 
able to put off for a long time (may we hope for all time?) 
the day when we shall begin to return upon our path. A 
nation of alert minds will discern the forces that threaten 
degeneration in the national life, and they should be able 
to control them ; but the majority of the people must be 
trained so that they can discern these forces and appreciate 
whither they tend. A nation cannot be saved by the en- 
lightenment of the few ; the attitudes and appreciation of 
the majority, after all, determine the fate of a nation, as 
Professor Garlanda is making clear to his own people. 



TENDENCIES IN OUR OWN COUNTRY 239 

It has been suggested that we in America have the right 

ideal ; but this does not mean that we are achieving all that 

can be desired in givine' our people a genuine 

*, T rr ,,.». Tendencies 

interest m vital truth. Let one study the life in in our own 

either the rural districts or the cities in almost any ""^ ^ 
section of our country, and he wiU find that the schools 
leave a good deal to be desired in respect to developing a 
love for genuine, virile knowledge in the rising generation. 
The youth in these places do not as a rule frequent the 
libraries or the laboratories during their leisure hours, but 
instead they rendezvous at the livery stable, the barber 
shop, and the saloon. Study the work of the schools among 
us, and it will be found that they have hardly yet begun to 
do vital teaching which will establish the ideals which it has 
been said must be made to exert a controlling influence upon 
the lives of our people, if we are to avoid the unhappy fate 
of older civilizations. Our schools are still governed to a 
degree by the formal, artificial, mechanical methods which 
make the schools of Spain and Italy, and other European 
countries to a less extent, so ineffective in moulding the 
lives of the rising generation in the manner indicated as 
essential for individual and national well-being. 

Our teachers are themselves often without interest in 
vital knowledge, and are quite lacking in inspiration ; and 
in this regard Germany can teach us a usefid lesson. In 
our ungraded district schools the situation is the most seri- 
ous; for in many places the teaching is still altogether 
mechanical and largely ineffective. To substitute mind- 
awakening and fruitful subjects and methods for merely 
formal ones must be our constant endeavor. It is beyond 
question that a high type of social life cannot be developed 
among a people whose schools are formal, mechanical, arti- 
ficial. But we have reason to be hopeful. Already nature- 
study and manual activities have been made a regular part 
of the curriculum of the country schools in certain of the 
states. It is being required also that the teachers in these 



240 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

schools shall have received some special training for their 
profession. Again, the consolidating of country schools, 
affording opportunity to secure better teachers and better 
equipment for effective teaching in all departments, promises 
well for the future. We must move steadily and irresistibly 
on along all these lines of progress until formalism is re- 
placed by vitalism in every grade of public school, from the 
kindergarten through the university. 

Students of human evolution have often pointed out that 
later civilizations have differed markedly from those of more 

_ , ancient times in their larger and saner altruistic 

Develop- y 

ment oi interests. All modern nations have, to some extent 
aitniisUo at any rate, made provision for the care and aid 
Interests ^f ^j^g needy and the helpless among their people. 
In its bearing upon national life, this means that some of 
the energy of the more fortunate individuals in any group is 
given to the improvement of the state of the less fortunate ; 
and the social organism is unquestionably strengthened 
thereby. If space permitted, it could probably be shown 
that those nations in which the altruistic tendencies are the 
strongest and at the same time the most rational are in the 
most stable condition, and give promise of retaining their 
vigor the longest. But it is a matter of supreme importance 
to note how the different nations express their charitable in- 
clinations, for they differ considerably in this respect. Here 
in one nation where poverty is extreme, and the helpless 
from one cause or another are numbered by the hundreds 
of thousands, — in this nation the rich show their sympathy 
by making contributions in money or goods directly to the 
poor among them. This, it will be apparent, is a more or 
less spectacular method of administering aid, and would 
naturally be characteristic of a people who are fond of ex- 
hibition, and whose interests usually have an immediate 
personal reference. It should be noted that this expression 
of altruistic feeling must be constantly repeated in order to 
be of substantial aid to the unfortunate, for it does not 



SOUND ALTRUISTIC INTERESTS 241 

make them self-helpful. It does not give them initiative in 
taking advantage of conditions to aid themselves ; rather it 
probably tends to destroy initiative, making the recipient 
of charity constantly more dependent. 

But here in another nation, while there is some direct 
contributing to charity, the altruistic tendencies are mainly 
expressed in other directions. The wealthy endow institu- 
tions or schools of one kind or another for the poor ; they 
provide lectures dealing with modes of effective living 
adapted to the circumstances of those who listen to them ; 
and in other ways they seek to relieve distress by making 
the needy intelligent and resourceful. It will not be neces- 
sary to dwell upon the proposition that this latter method is 
the only effective one in permanently strengthening national 
life. In our own country we have great need of more 
thoroughly appreciating this principle and putting it into 
effect. In the great rush of our life, and the general pros- 
perity everywhere abounding, it pleases many of us best to 
give money to aU who ask for it. Americans are known 
throughout Europe for their " generous " disposition. They 
are in the habit of giving freely to those who beg, without 
inquiring as to the merits of the beneficiaries, or the conse- 
quences of giving upon their conduct. At the same time it 
should be recognized that our people have not forgotten to 
make provisions for the poor to become self-helpful ; no na- 
tion has done more in this direction, unless it be Germany 
with her exceptionally effective system of evening industrial 
and trade schools. 

But we can do vastly more than we have done, and the 
schools can cooperate in the endeavor. We should have in 
the higher grades of the elementary school, in the secondary 
school, and in the college and the university, studies dealing 
in a very concrete, vital way with the more fundamental 
problems in the life of the nation. It may be shown to 
eighth-grade pupils even what are the requisites for the 
social health of our people ; and among the topics discussed 



242 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

should be one treating of the methods of relieving and 
reducing poverty. The aim of this study should be to make 
all our people conscious of the fact that self -helpfulness on 
the part of practically all the population of a nation is 
absolutely essential to its happiness and its endurance. This 
is one of the greatest lessons our schools can impress upon 
the rising generation, and no pains should be spared to 
teach it most effectively. Let it be made apparent in this 
study that charity can always be best expressed in the long 
run by teaching those in need how to he of service. In this 
way the range of interests and activities within the nation 
will be enlarged, and the means of increasing happiness will 
be put into the hands of poor and rich alike. Every pupil 
who leaves our schools, even the elementary school, should 
have got a glimpse at least of the idea that no social organism 
can long survive if a considerable proportion of its members 
are non-productive in any way, whatever may be the reason, 
whether because of luxury, or dependence upon the bounty 
of the rich, or the state, or what not. 

This leads to a word upon the necessity of our schools 
developing industrial interests in the young. One may 
Develop- hear students of sociology and economics in most 
Industrial European countries say that modern educational 
interests systems train too largely for the professions, and 
ignore the industries upon which in the end the well-being 
of the social organism depends. In Italy, France, and Eng- 
land especially, there is a profound conviction among think- 
ing men that it would be vastly better for their respective 
nations if there were fewer universities and more technical 
schools, which would prepare young men and women ade- 
quately for agriculture, engineering, commerce, and domes- 
tic duties. Unemployed doctors of philosophy, it is said 
over and over again, are a source of peril to any nation, 
for they are generally ill-contented, and they are inclined 
to advocate the destruction of the existing social order. 
Meanwhile, the industries upon which civilization depends 



INDIVIDUAL EFFICIENCY 243 

have not been greatly affected in European countries 
through the influence of the schools and colleges, though 
in Germany particularly there is promise of much improve- 
ment in this regard in the future. 

Fortunately, in our own country the mechanic arts, agri- 
culture, and the like are apparently destined to occupy the 
most prominent place in our whole educational system, as 
they rightly should. However, there are many among us 
who would arrest this movement and return on our path, 
because, as they think, we are becoming too " material- 
istic." But surely we are moving along the right lines, and 
we must press forward without ceasing, until every in- 
dustrial activity essential to the life of the nation shall be 
treated in the spirit and according to the method of modern 
science, and until it shall be deemed as worthy and en- 
nobling in every way to study agriculture or domestic 
science as to study Greek or literature or algebra. Where 
the least has been accomplished in this direction in Euro- 
pean nations, the whole life of the people — physical, in- 
tellectual, moral — is at the lowest ebb; and where the 
most has been achieved, the social condition is most stable 
and promising in all respects ; and there is certainly some 
relation between the healthful or degenerative condition of 
the nation and the dignity which is attached to industrial 
pursuits, and the prominence given to them in the educa- 
tional activities of the people. 

In what has been said regarding the development of 
conserving interests in our schools, it has been implied 
that it must be the aim throughout to make every Deveiop- 
individual among us independent and effective in individual 
dealing with all matters of general and social as ^*^'*^^^° 
well as personal concern. There is in question efficiency 
here a large principle of the utmost importance in education 
for national stability. When one endeavors to find the 
chief deficiencies in the educational regime of decadent or 
non-progressive countries, it seems clear enough that one 



244 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

defect lies in theiv /"ailure to train for individual efficiency 
in social as well as personal life. Thorough, unprejudiced 
students of affairs in these countries complain that the 
schools are not teaching pupils to " think for themselves." 
These nations, practically all of them, make obedient 
routinists in their schools, but such individuals lack inde- 
pendence and initiative. They are not trained to cope with 
new problems affecting the life of their nation, and they 
are not coping with them. 

In America, we perhaps understand what we ought to 
do in developing individual power, and one may see the 
ideal realized in large measure in particular schools in 
various parts of the Union. But to attain it fully requires 
teachers of the largest calibre, those who have themselves 
attained it ; and in this respect there is much to be desired 
in our country. We must have as instructors persons who 
know how to engender in our children the habit of effective 
thinking, not simply good memorizing; and this effective 
thinking must be done in the schools with reference to the 
needs for the perpetuity of our nation, as indicated in the 
nature of our people and the history of other nations. No 
amount of learning of rules about moral conduct will prove 
of any substantial worth, as is shown in France (to which 
we shall return presently), without this development of 
individual freedom and efficiency in dealing with the pro- 
blems affecting national prosperity. In the organization and 
discipline of our schools, as well as in the choice of studies 
and in the methods of presenting them, we must encourage 
individual initiative to the fullest extent. 

While urging the development of individual initiative, it 

should at the same time be appreciated that our 
Conformity p \ i- 

to estaij- pupils must be taught perfect obedience to estab- 
lished law. But in every way possible they must 
be made to see why law has been established, and why it 
must be observed if all are to prosper best. From first to 
last in the discipline of the school pupils must be led to see the 



R:&SUME 245 

reasonableness of rules and regulations ; and then they must 
be made to realize that these regulations, being reasonable, 
Tuust be observed under all circumstances. We shall in a 
later chapter discuss in detail the general principles in ques- 
tion here ; but let it be said now that there is danger of pupils 
in American schools not acquiring an attitude of ready con- 
formity to reasonable authority. It is a delicate matter to 
develop this attitude of freedom and at the same time of 
obedience, but the competent teacher can accomplish it. 
He can develop in his pupils the habit of seeking the reasons 
for laws, and if they do not seem right, to attempt to secure 
something more equitable ; but so long as they remain in 
force they must be observed. The teacher who appreciates 
his opportunity can utilize the every-day life of his school 
to achieve effectively the end here indicated. 

The chief problem of social training is so to influence each oncom- 
ing generation that the community or the nation may continue to grow 
in strength and efficiency, which will insure increasing pros- 
perity, alike to society and to the individual. The theory that 
the social organism is subject to precisely the same laws of growth 
and decay as the biological organism is hardly sound, since in the 
social body new members are constantly appearing, and this makes 
possible continual readjustment to changing environmental condi- 
tions. 

The highest function of education is so to equip the plastic mem- 
bers of society that they may realize in knowledge and conduct the 
requirements for continuous social, intellectual, and physical develop- 
ment. Whatever lessens vitality in any form and threatens decay is, 
in the large view, immoral. "When a nation is developing vigorously it 
usually exhibits in its activities the fundamental virtues of temperance, 
industry, fair play, honesty, and the like. But when success is achieved 
and leisure and luxury increase, then comes the crucial period in the 
life of a nation, as of an individual. In the past marked increase in 
luxury in nations has resulted first in moral, and then in physical 
disintegration. 

The educational problem of any nation is mainly how to teach its 
citizens to employ leisure and wealth so as to insure development in- 
stead of decay. In our country the moral vitality of the nation as a 
whole has not yet been severely tested ; but wealth is being amassed 
with alarming rapidity, and already signs of the disintegrating influ- 
ence of luxury are appearing. The degenerative process always begins 



246 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

when a considerable part of the people in a community or a nation 
give themselves up to the pursuit of sensuous pleasures. 

In order to avert this catastrophe, the schools must strive to develop 
in the young dominating interests of an aesthetic, intellectual, altru- 
istic, and industrial character. The schools of Italy, as an example, 
fail to do this, and they are, in a measure at least, responsible for the 
nation's deplorable condition at present. 

Merely to dwell in the vicinity of aesthetic things may exert little or 
no influence upon aesthetic feeling. The great art of the world can 
affect the feeling and impulses of the individual only when he par- 
ticipates in the artist's thought and feeling. In order that aesthetic 
training may be truly educative in establishing deep interest in aes- 
thetic objects, it must cause the pupil constantly to make cesthetic choice 
in an environment of varying aesthetic values, and to produce (esthetic 
things. In our country it should be the aim to develop in all the people 
aesthetic interests that will vitally affect their daily lives. 

A study of European life reveals a serious lack of genuine intellect- 
ual interests among the masses of the people. In the schools of Italy, 
most if not all the work is formal, traditional, mechanical. Such work 
leaves the individual wholly incapable of adapting himself effectively 
to changing social conditions. To avoid arrest and retrogression, and 
to insure continued progress in a nation, there must be disseminated 
among the people the spirit of investigation, and the desire to search 
after new truth which may lead to more perfect adjustment. While 
in America we seem to be getting the right ideal, still a study of the 
schools in either the city or the country will show that there is still 
much to be desired. In many of our schools, alike of low and of high 
degree, the teaching lacks vitality and is inclined to be formal, me- 
chanical, and ineffective. Enrichment of the course of study, the pro- 
fessional training of teachers, and the consolidation of country schools 
are hopeful signs of progress. 

All modern nations have made some provision for the care of their 
helpless and needy members; but the altruistic tendency manifests 
itself in different ways in different nations. In some countries aid is 
given to the poor directly, and in a more or less spectacular manner. 
In other countries the growing tendency is to relieve distress by mak- 
ing the needy intelligent and self-helpful. In this way individual as 
well as national life is strengthened. While Americans are noted 
among older nations for their " generous " disposition, they yet have 
not entirely forgotten to provide means for the poor to become self- 
helpful through proper education. The principle involved should be 
more generally appreciated among us, and put into effect more largely 
in every section of the country. All the schools — elementary, second- 
ary, and higher — should give a prominent place to studies dealing in 
a vital, concrete way with the fundamental problems in the life of the 



r]£sum::6 247 

nation. Every pupil who leaves school should have gained the idea 
that no nation can long survive in which a considerable proportion of 
its population is non-productive from any cause whatsoever, 

A study of European nations shows that there is an intimate relation 
existing between the physical, intellectual, and moral well-being of a 
people and the attention given to training individual independence 
and initiative, both in school and in real life. In order to train for 
individual efBciency, the school must encourage original, dynamic, 
effective thinking, and not mere faithfulness in verbal memory. But 
with the development of the attitude of individual freedom and initi- 
ative must go strict obedience to established law. In America we are 
doing more than any other country in making our children individually 
competent; but there is some danger that they will not learn to con- 
form readily and fully to proper and necessary authority. 



CHAPTER XI 

EDUCATIVE SOCIAL EXPERIENCE » 

Students of human nature in all times have urged that 

deliberate training of some sort is absolutely essential 

„^ ^, to the fittincj of an individual to adiust himself to 
Education => _ , J 

and social a Complex social environment; nature unaided 
cannot accomplish all that is demanded in this di- 
rection. Every important scheme which has been proposed 
for the improvement of social and individual life has laid em- 
phasis upon the school as the instrument to be considered 
at the outset. Plato, the most serious and competent writer 
on social welfare in ancient times, gave chief attention to 
education as the means of realizing his ideal community. 
In his JRepuhlic and his Laws he goes at length into the 
methods of training children for social efficiency, in respect 
alike to individual and to civic relations. The same at- 
tempt is made by Aristotle in his Politics^ Plutarch in his 
Morals^ Montaigne in several of his works, Locke in his 
Thoughts on Education^ Pestalozzi in his How Gertude 
Teaches her Children^ Rousseau in his Emile^ Froebel in 
his Education hy Development^ Herbart in his Outline of 
Pedagogical Doctrine, Spencer in his Education, — and 
the list might be extended at pleasure. 

These students have all appreciated that the need of edu- 
cational influence to perfect the individual in his social 
adjustments arises out of the child's inability to adapt 
himself readily and effectively to all phases of the social 

1 As originally written, the first half of this chapter discussed the influence 
of physical conditions in the individual upon his social attitudes. But inas- 
much as the author has treated this subject in detail in his Dynamic Fac- 
tors in Education, Part II, it has seemed best upon reflection not to do more 
than mention it here. The whole matter is of supreme importance, however, 
and the reader is urged to give it his attention if he ia not familiar with it. 



EDUCATION AND SOCIAL EFFICIENCY 249 

environment into which he is cast at birth. The newcomer's 
vision has not been made keen to discern the social goal 
ahead ; his feet have not been practiced to the route ; his 
lungs have been accustomed to a heavier atmosphere. It has 
been pointed out at length in previous chapters that the 
child comes to us equipped especially for journeying among 
a people of quite different temper and customs, and his 
traveling outfit is in many respects only impedimenta to 
him under present-day conditions. Plato was impressed by 
the resemblance which he thought he saw between the child's 
development and that of the race. Goethe's writings are 
full of the idea ; Herder and Lessing have adopted it ; the 
evolutionists, all of them from Darwin down, have attempted 
to give it a scientific foundation ; Herbart and his followers 
have made it the basis of an educational system ; and it is 
the fundamental hypothesis of modern educational theory. 
The young child, according to this view, is on a par with 
primitive man in his social inclinations and abilities, but 
he must learn to live among men whose relations are well- 
nigh infinitely complex, and who must, to a large extent 
at any rate, assume attitudes of cooperation, instead of those 
of opposition and aggression. 

t The chief problem of education regarded from this stand- 
point consists either in repressing in some manner such of 
the child's native impulses as are out of alignment with 
contemporary social practices, or transforming these im- 
pulses into tendencies that will bring the individual into har- 
mony with the customs, ideals, and institutions of civilized 
society. Looking at the matter in a very general way here, 
we see that in primitive communities egoism, in the crude, 
narrow sense, is much more prominent than in highly com- 
plex societies ; and, as we have seen, it is predominant in the 
young child. In the savage life of the forest the individual 
fights his own battles largely alone, and advances himself 
by subjugating or exterminating his fellows. Success under 
such circumstances requires intense individualistic feelings 



250 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

and actions ; and the point to be noted is that the child be- 
gins his journey dominated to a considerable extent by these 
primitive, self-referring impulses, which set him in hostility 
to the alter in many of their relations ; and while he would 
on his own initiative learn to restrain certain tendencies and 
to practice others of a more social character in the give and 
take of daily life, still he would not move rapidly enough 
or go far enough without special aid being given him by 
the group of which he is a member, through its agencies 
established for this particular purpose. 

The first principle in social education, indicated alike by 
experience and by the data presented in preceding chapters, 
is this : In order to attain most readily and eco- 
social ex- nomically to social efficiency, the child must from 
the first the very beginning have large experience — real, 
requisite vital, educative experience — in a variety of typi- 
cal social situations. In this statement it is implied that 
individuals will differ in respect to the degree of complexity 
of the social relations they will assume, and so the range of 
their need and education wiU. be greater in one case than in 
another ; but we speak here of the general principle only. 
In contrast to the principle as stated, it may be suggested 
that the learning of rules, maxims, or precepts concern- 
ing good behavior will not materially aid the social tyro, 
unless his learning is preceded, or at least supplemented, by 
actual practice in adjusting himself effectively to concrete 
social situations presenting all the factors involved in the 
adjustments of real life. Just as a course in text-book psy- 
chology alone will not give one vital knowledge of human 
nature, though it may aid him in interpreting what he has 
seen if he has met people face to face in some of the typical 
situations of daily life ; and as a course in ethics will not 
of itself develop in the student ethical conduct, though it 
win be more serviceable for the youth than the child, since 
the former can in some measure probably interpret the teach- 
ings in the light of his experience ; so principles setting forth 



THE FIRST REQUISITE 251 

the results of the experiments of the race in social living 
cannot yield their wisdom to the novice for the simple memo- 
rizing of them, a doctrine which Locke, Rousseau, and all 
their followers have maintained has universal validity. 

It does not seem dogmatic to say that nothing but direct, 
vital, first-hand relations with his fellows from the earliest 
years on will furnish a child with concrete data necessary 
for gaining social insight, and for developing social good 
will, and a disposition to cooperate with his fellows.^ In 
the give-and-take relations of social intercourse the novice 
may learn under intelligent guidances (Jbut he must he 
guided~) what impulses rule the hearts of his comrades, and 
how he must conduct himself toward them so that all may 
attain the greatest happiness in the end. In this manner, 
when aided by some competent person or book or work of 
art or what not, in ways which we must sketch in succeed- 
ing chapters, he acquires in time the feeling of what is the 
proper thing to be done in social situations. Based on what 
has been developed elsewhere, it may now be said that it 
will be of little service to an individual, in the real world of 
people struggling in innumerable ways for larger life, to 
have memorized a system of " rules of conduct," if he has 
not worked such rules out into motor tendencies, and pos- 
sibly motor habits. It may be noted in this connection that 
children sometimes are set to learn by heart lessons in man- 

^ Quintilian's advice in reference to the training of the orator applies 
in principle to the training of every boy for life among his fellows : " First 
of all, let him who is to be an orator, and who must live amidst the great- 
est publicity, and in full daylight of public affairs, accustom himself, from 
his boyhood, not to be abashed at the sight of men, nor pine in a solitary 
and as it were recluse way of life. The mind requires to be constantly excited 
and roused, while in such retirement it either languishes, and contracts rust 
as it were, in the shade, or, on the other hand, becomes swollen with empty 
conceit, since he who compares himself with no one else, will necessarily 
attribute too much to his own powers. 

" Besides, when his acquirements are to be displayed in public, he is blinded 
at the sight of the sun, and stumbles at every new object, as having 
learned in solitude that which is to be done in public." — The Institutes of 
Oratory, vol. i, p. 22. 



252 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

ners before they go a-visiting ; but alas ! sucb lessons count 
for naught against years of contrary action. 

It is a matter of common observation that adults often 
have a sound philosophy regarding their social relations, 
but their practice is of a different character. In the quiet 
of one's study, when reflection and not action is required, a 
person may be able to reach valid conclusions as to what 
should be done in social crises ; but he may not be able to 
observe these conclusions at the appropriate moment, since 
what has entered into the functioning of the whole vital 
mechanism, as it were, is what determines conduct after 
all. Rules as such may pass in the classroom, where static 
relations prevail, but they generally drag too heavily in the 
dynamic world without. Who does not know of brilliant 
theorists on manners, and conduct in general, who have 
themselves made dismal failures of this part of life, for the 
reason that their theories had not become embodied in facile 
habits, so that they could be depended upon in crucial 
moments ? 

It is generally believed that the only child in a family, 
reared among adults, rarely becomes a really efficient citi- 
The social zen and agreeable friend and neighbor.^ If this 
tte!"*oni°* proposition be a sound one, and observation as 
cMia" well as theory indorses it, it must be due to the 
fact that the only child does not ordinarily have those give- 

1 Perhaps there is another side to the " only-child " question. If there are 
several children in the same home there -will be a great deal of conflict be- 
tween them in the effort to secure the same things, and to gain advantages 
of every kind. They will all wish to use the swing at the same time, or the 
hammock, or what not. This involves tension and strain and struggle. It 
arouses all the combative emotions. It is without doubt irritating to the ner- 
vous system. I have noticed that some children living in a large family grow 
quieter and stronger when they are practically left alone for two or three 
weeks, and so have everything their own way. 

But if a child grows up apart from other children and has no struggles, 
can he learn the lessons of inhibition and sacrifice which are necessary in the 
great social game ? Will he acquire these in emulating his parents as he 
grows older ? Will the egoistic emotions subside with development ? Can a 
parent through lessons on self-restraint develop social conduct, without the 



TRAINING OF THE ONLY CHILD 253 

and-take experiences with comrades which develop social 
insight, and in the long run encourage cooperative action. 
Usually he grows up in contact mainly with books or with 
inanimate things; or he may have more or less formal and 
artificial social relations with his elders, who in dealing with 
him normally do not play the game as it is played in real 
life. Adults are prone either to pet a child or rigidly to sup- 
press him, and under such circumstances he is only too apt 
to develop the characteristics either of the bully or the 
slave, and in neither case is he learning social lessons as he 
will need to apply them.^ The socially efficient person is 
not a tyrant in his social relations, nor again is he a serf. 
He plays the game fair ; which means that he does not de- 
prive his associates of privileges which he enjoys, and at 
the same time he resents selfish aggression on the part of 
any one else. He does not expect to receive more than he 
gives, nor is he willing to give to those who desire to receive 
only. Pierre Loti, in the story of his childhood, complains 
bitterly because he was rigorously excluded from a free 
life with other boys of his age. He intimates that the train- 
ing gained in association with aunts and grandmothers ex- 
clusively left him without an understanding of people as 
they manifest themselves in actual life. 

In social as in other activities it seems to be the case that 
hard knocks ^ are often essential to teach the young much 
of what ought and what ought not to be done in jj . 
their relations with their fellows, and he who pre- knocks aie 

geegiitifll 

vents a child from gaining the lesson when he is to effective 
in a condition to learn it most easily and effectively ^^^™'°s 

irritation which comes from having a number of children of nearly the same 
age in a family ? Experience and theory alike would lead us to answer these 
queries generally in the negative, though one ought not to be dogmatic 
about the matter, in view of the present state of our knowledge respecting 
the effect of various experiences upon mental development. 

1 See an article, " The Only Child in a Family," by E, W. Bohanon, Fed. 
Sem. vol. V, pp. 475 et seq. 

^ These " hard knocks" must, of course, be received as a natural conse- 
quence of the individual's conduct, and not arbitrarily. The point is discussed 
in detail later on. 



254 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

is an unwise teacher. It is as true in social education as in 
other matters, that one acquires power to do mainly by doing ; 
though as intimated above, when one has had vital experience 
himself, and is striving to solve problems, he may, under pro- 
per conditions, profit by the experience of others, whether 
gained from personal description, from books, from insti- 
tutions, or otherwise. The child cannot gain efficiency in 
insisting upon his rights except by being placed early and 
continuously in situations where he is aggressed upon by 
bullies, who keep their places when he asserts himself, and 
calls to his assistance those who will generally demand fair 
play of a simple, crude sort at any rate. He can acquire the 
attitude of seK-restraint only by taking lessons therein when 
he is in competition with his fellows to attain ends which all 
desire. He can learn to assist his fellows and obtain aid 
from them only as he cooperates with them in the per- 
formance of their tasks, and sees that, as a rule, if he helps 
them when he is able he will be assisted when he is in need. 
The principle is that formal instruction, which plays a 
leading role in social education in many places, cannot 
teach the novice these lessons effectively. Such instruc- 
tion dissociated from social action is practically fruitless in 
the child's education. 

If one's observation may be trusted, it appears that there 
is a growing tendency to give children larger opportunities 
than they formerly had for gaining helpful expe- 
dayten- rience with their fellows while they are in the 
dencies formative period. Some of us can remember when 
parents in certain sections of the country thought the young 
ousfht most of the time to remain each within his own door- 
yard. Children were punished if they sought the compan- 
ionship of their mates except at comparatively rare intervals. 
But to-day one sees that parents frequently plan to promote 
social life among their children. The telephone and similar 
agencies are called into requisition to bring the young to- 
gether in vital intercourse under a certain amount of direc- 



MERE GREGARIOUSNESS NOT SUFFICIENT 255 

tion, where what is learned counts for much toward social 
efficiency in maturity. 

It should be emphasized that social experience of this 
sort must be had early, when the individual is plastic, in 
order to be really educative. When one has reached matur- 
ity it is too late to learn vital social lessons with marked 
success. A child wiU readily enough change any line of ac- 
tion if he discovers that he will gain thereby, but men and 
women seek rather to modify the world about them to suit 
their settled notions and habits. Of the seven ages of man 
the developmental ones are alone the adaptive ones ; matur- 
ity is, on the whole, a stable, non-adaptive period ; so that 
we must accomphsh most of what we wish in social educa- 
tion, or any other form of education for that matter, before 
the teens are completed. 

While emphasizing the necessity of a wide range of vital 

social experience for the development of social efficiency, it 

should at the same time be noted that the indi- j^g^.^ 

vidual must have occasions when he may, in isola- gariousness 
1 . . in • not enough 

tion, organize his experience, and reiiect upon it for social 

to some exten^. Experience alone, without organi- ^®^^^'"'™®'^* 
zation and interpretation, wiU not yield a high degree of 
insight. The most gregarious people are not in all cases the 
most social, in the broad sense in which we are employing 
this term. In some cases,- indeed, mere gregariousness se- 
cures only a very inferior order of social development. On 
the streets of some of the cities of the Old World, as Algiers, 
Naples, and parts of London and Edinburgh, one may see 
the gregarious tendency strikingly manifested ; but the 
social tone in these places is lower than in most sections 
where a certain amount of individuality is preserved, so that 
people have some part of their lives to themselves. In the 
cities of our own country, from Boston to San Francisco, 
one may note the evil results of people herding together, so 
that there is no opportunity for periods of seclusion and 
growth in individuality. The group tends often to suppress 



256 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

variation in expression, and so to limit individual develop- 
ment, unless one's life be so ordered that what is gained in 
retreat may be deep enough and strong enough to survive 
even in group aggression. 

In the end it will be of advantage to the group if the 
individuals thereof bring to it contributions arising out of 
the operation of the personal equation in reaction upon 
common stimuli. Of course, these contributions must stand 
the test of group trial and application ; but without such 
a method of growth and expansion, the group would re- 
main on a low plane of social evolution. The principle is 
that while experience in adjustment to the group is abso- 
lutely essential to the learning of serviceable social lessons, 
still the individual must get a certain amount of his 
suggestion for social action outside the group in which he 
is to express his views and inclinations. This is particularly 
true as development proceeds ; the youth must derive a 
considerable part of his social insight and ideals from 
history, literature, art, science, and the like. Experience 
warrants the statement that the educated man, if he be 
given opportunity to apply his learning concretely in deal- 
ing with the group, will ascend higher in social develop- 
ment than the man who has no ideals except such as he 
gets from the street. Ordinarily the group, as it exists in 
childhood, is not eager to promote its own social growth. 
It desires simply that the game in hand should go on 
uninterruptedly ; it takes no thought for the future. This 
is why the school and the home are so essential to the 
continuous development of both the individual and the 
group ; but the detailed way in which this assistance may 
be rendered must be worked out further along. 

Our aim in this chapter is to emphasize the necessity 
of direct, vital intercourse in acquiring social efficiency. 
Social education must be dynamic; static methods of train- 
ing will leave the individual with verbal knowledge of social 
conduct, but without inclination or ability to deal with situ- 



SOCIAL TRAINING BY SUPPRESSION 257 

atlons where one's fellows must be aided in their enter- 
prises and sympathized with, and on occasions g 
resented in their aggressions, and disciplined for sionasa 
selfish action. In the effort to realize this dynamic social 
method, we seem to be making progress in one ^^^^s 
direction. We hear less to-day than we once did about the 
need of repressing the young in the presence of their 
elders ; about " teaching them their place," which has often 
meant no place at all; about their never speaking unless 
first spoken to. These doctrines when put rigidly into prac- 
tice tend surely to develop either the slave's or the an- 
archist's feelings and attitudes in the individual. If such 
a policy be long continued, it seems to establish in one the 
feeling that he will always be bullied, or else he must be 
a rebel against authority ; that he must be ready to serve 
in response to the commands of others, or violently to 
oppose them. The doctrine as taught and sometimes prac- 
ticed by our forefathers is presented in the Babies' Booh^ 
in which some among us seem still to have much faith. In 
addition to numerous other instructions to the young, the 
book advises them not to chatter or let their eyes wander 
about the house when their lords (their fathers) address 
them. And it continues : — 

Stand till you are told to sit. Keep your head, hands, and feet 
quiet. Do not scratch yourself, or lean against a post, or handle 
anything near. Bow to your lord when you answer. If any one 
better than yourself come in, retire and give place to him. Turn 
your back on no man. Be silent while your lord drinks, not laugh- 
ing, whispering, or joking. If he tells you to sit down, do so at 
once. Then do not talk dirt, or scorn any one, but be meek and 
cheerful. If your better praises you, rise up and thank him 
heartily. When your lord or lady is speaking about the household 
don't interrupt, but be always ready to serve at the proper time, 
to bring drink, hold lights, or anything else, and so get a good 
name. The best prayer you can make to God is to be well- 
mannered. 

If your lord offers his cup, rise up and take it with both hands; 



258 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

offer it to no one else, but give it back to him that brought it. At 
noon, when your lord is ready for dinner, fetch him some clean 
water, hold the towel till he has finished, and do not leave till 
grace is said. Stand by your lord till he tells you to sit ; then 
keep your knife clean and sharp to cut your food. Be silent, and 
tell no nasty stories.' 

Dickens, as doubtless all know, pictured the child- 
trainers of his day as tyrants, — not only the teachers, but 
the parents as weR. In Barnaby Rudge Dickens presents 
a character in John Willett who illustrates very well the 
type of person who would suppress all spontaneity in youth ; 
who believes it is the province of children to serve and 
wait, and not speak until they are spoken to. Willett, who 
kept the Maypole Inn, had a vigorous son, Joe, who, as he 
approached young manhood, began to feel the stir of life 
within him, and he longed for an opportunity to try his 
wings. But Father John felt that the boy's wings should 
be clipped ; that he himself should be ruler and Joe his 
abject slave. The father received cordial support in his 
educational philosophy from the loafers and vagabonds 
who haunted the inn. On one occasion when a remark was 
made in the presence of Joe, who ventured to reply, the 
following scene occurred : — ' ^ 

" Silence, sir ! " cried his father. 
" What a chap you are, Joe! " said Long Parkes. 
" Such an inconsiderate lad ! " murmured Tom Cobb. 
"Putting himself forward, and wringing the very nose off his 
own father's face ! " exclaimed the parish clerk metaphorically. 
" What have I done ? " reasoned Joe. 
" Silence, sir ! " returned his father ; " what do you mean by 

^ The objection to the principle of training illustrated in this quotation 
is that it keeps the child static. It fails to provide opportunity for him to 
develop his social powers along right lines, while aiming to prevent him 
from doing undesirable things. It will later be urged that the child must be 
repressed in respect to some of his actions ; but this does not mean that all 
of his spontaneous tendencies should be negated. The sort of training indi- 
cated in the quotation would be suitable in China, where the young are not 
expected to break in any way with custom. 



SOCIAL TRAINING BY SUPPRESSION 259 

talking when you see people that are more than two or three times 
your age sitting still and silent and not dreaming of saying a 
word ? " 

" Why, that 's the proper time for me to talk, is n't it ? " said 
Joe rebelliously. 

" The proper time, sir ! " retorted his father, " the proper time 's 
no time." 

" Ah, to be sure ! " muttered Parkes, nodding gravely to the other 
two, who nodded Hkewise, observing under their breaths that that 
was the point. 

" The proper time 's no time, sir ! " repeated John Willet ; " when 
I was your age I never talked, I never wanted to talk. I listened 
and improved myself, that 's what I did." 

" It 's all very fine talking," muttered Joe, who had been fidget- 
ing in his chair with divers uneasy gestures. " But if you mean 
to tell me that I am never to open my lips — " 

" Silence, sir ! " roared his father. "No, you never are. When 
your opinion 's wanted, you give it. When you 're spoke to, you 
speak. When your opinion 's not wanted and you 're not spoke 
to, don't give an opinion and don't you speak. The world 's un- 
dergone a nice alteration since my time, certainly. My belief is 
that there ain't any boys left — that there is n't such a thing as a 
boy — that there 's nothing now between a male baby and a man 
— and that all the boys went out with his blessed majesty. King 
George the Second." 

It seems reasonable to say that if Willett wanted to de- 
velop in his son the slave's attitude, he pursued the right 
course to attain his end. Let it be repeated that social effi- 
ciency develops only when effective expression occurs ; ef- 
ficiency is a cumulative power, increasing through a long 
course of experiment, wherein it is discovered that certain 
lines of conduct will lead to success, while others will turn 
out unfortunately. The suppressed child might become a good 
follower, and so he would be well adapted to certain social 
situations ; but he could never become a leader, or even an 
equal ; and so he could hardly fill his proper place in Ameri- 
can life. Of course, he must learn to restrain many of his im- 
pulses ; this is the fundamental need in his education ; but 



260 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

he can acquire this lesson effectively only by having actual 
experience in observing the unhappy outcome when these 
impulses are given free rein. Thus his initiative will not be 
checked; it will simply be guided into proper channels.^ 

The public school as it exists among us is, in theory at 
any rate, well adapted to train pupils effectively in the f un- 
Thesitna- damental social virtues. Quintilian, like many 
Buwio ^^^ another since his day, has pleaded strongly for 
schools public education, because the boy taught alone 
never learns thoroughly either himself or his fellows. Now, 
while the school undoubtedly does aid in social education, 
as we shall see more in detail presently, still it seems to 
achieve considerably less than it has set itself to attain. It 
will be readily granted that the school, as we know it, does 
accomplish something toward the development of such vir- 
tues as industry, punctuality, and quietude ; yet even these 
qualities, so essential to social efficiency, are not always 
gained in the school so that they can be employed in the most 
serviceable way in real life. 

Moreover, these virtues, taken in connection with all the 
ideas, feelings, and tendencies that are essential for real effi- 
ciency in social relationships, cannot be regarded as of pri- 
mary importance. Fancy a man who possesses those formal 
qualities but no others, — who can be silent when he is in 
the presence of others, who can be punctual, who can keep 
mechanically at any task that is set him, — if his social 

^ Locke discusses the point involved here in the following manner : — 
" If the Mind be curb'd and humbled too much in childhood ; if their Spirits 
be abash'd and broken much, by too strict an Hand over them, they lose all 
their Vigor and Industry, and are in a worse State than the former. For ex- 
travagant young Fellows, that have Liveliness and Spirit, come sometimes 
to be set right, and so make able and great Men ; but dejected Minds, timo- 
rous and tame, and low Spirits, are hardly ever to be rais'd, and very seldom 
attain to any Thing. To avoid the danger that is on either Hand, is the great 
Art ; and he that has found a Way how to keep up a Child's Spirit easy, active, 
and free, and yet at the same time to restrain him from many Things he has 
a Mind to, and to draw him to Things that are uneasy to him ; he, I say, 
that knows how to reconcile these seeming Contradictions, has, in my Opin- 
ion, got the true Secret of Education." — Quick, iocie on Education, sec. 46. 



THE SITUATION IN THE SCHOOL 261 i 

powers could be summed up in this list of virtues, would he 
not be sadly out of tune among dynamic human beings ? He 
could win but little pleasure for himself in association with 
his kind, and he probably could add but little to the plea- 
sures of others. According to the writer's observations, when 
children trained in this way do come together in later years 
they seem ill at ease with one another. They appear to be 
timid, to be unduly inhibited ; in short, to be out of their 
element. Their faces are often sombre, and their manners 
reserved and formal. When one gets an opportunity during 
his formative period to have little but formal relations 
with those about him, he cannot be expected to be original 
and fresh and effective with them in maturity. 

What is really the most serious phase of the matter, the 
school with its fixed seats occupying all available space in 

the room is still based largely upon the ideal of „^ ^_, . 

ojc- ipjig typical 

social isolation, a point which Professor Dewey ^ school is 
has emphasized strongly. In a school of this type on the 
— happily they are not so popular to-day as they ^*^^° p^™ 
were a half century ago — each pupil is expected to pre- 
pare his lessons by his own efforts, and recite without 
cooperation with his fellows, except as they may criticise 
him for his shortcomings in respect to technical execution. 
He is not encouraged to seek aid from his classmates or to 
render them any if he is able so to do. He cannot commu- 
nicate with any one while in the school, for this is contrary 
to good government, although desire for communion is the 
most urgent thing in the child's being. It was pointed out 
in the first chapter that children cannot normally enjoy 
any discovery or achievement unless they can share it, or 
imless some one is made aware of it and shows interest in 
it, or at least learns of it. And, on the other hand, they 
cannot be content unless they can participate in all the life 
about them. Who that has lived with children has not 
noticed how restless they are until they know what is being 
^ See his School and Society, especially the first two chapters. 



262 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

talked about in their presence, what is going to happen, 
who has done this or that, where father is going, what is his 
business, and so on ad libitum. While it is probable that 
some check must be put upon this tendency, still it serves 
a very useful end in the individual's intellectual and social 
development.^ Even with the adolescent, as we have seen, 
the desire for communion is exceedingly strong. The indi- 
vidual must share his accomplishments with others; he 
must teU the world what he has done, and learn what others 
have done, too. If this impulse were not dominant in the 
young soul, how could we have anything like society as we 
now know it ? It seems important, then, that the school 
should not altogether suppress the tendency to communi- 
cate, but should rather direct it so that it may not express 
itself in illegitimate ways. Not prohibition, but guidance, 
should be the teacher's constant aim. It is only when his 
communications are an annoyance or a hindrance to his 
fellows, or when they prevent him from applying himself 
to more important tasks, that the pupil should be urged to 
restrain himself. 

The fact that a number of children are gathered to- 
gether in the same room does not insure that they will re- 
ceive dynamic social training,^ They may be spatially near 

^ The general psychological principle involved here is discussed in the 
anthor's Education as Adjustment, ehap, x. 

2 " A society," says Professor Dewey {op. cit. pp. 27-32) " is a number of 
people held together because they are working along common lines, in a 
common spirit, and with reference to common aims. The radical reason that 
the present school cannot organize itself as a social unit is because just this 
element of common and productive activity is absent. In the schoolroom 
the motive and the cement of the social organization are alike wanting. 
Upon the ethical side, the tragic weakness of the present school is that it en- 
deavors to prepare future members of the social order in a medium in which 
the conditions of the social spirit are eminently wanting. The mere absorp- 
tion of facts and truths is so exclusively individual an affair that it tends 
very naturally to pass into selfishness. There is no obvious social motive 
for the acquirement of mere learning, there is no clear social gain in success 
thereat. Indeed, almost the only measure of success is a competitive one, in 
the bad sense of that term, — ^ a comparison of results in the recitation or in 
the examination to see which child has succeeded in getting ahead of the 



THE SITUATION IN THE SCHOOL 263 

to one another without having vital social relations, except 
that to be quiet when one is with others, and attend to 
one's own affairs, is of much importance for social efficiency. 
Not to be distracted by the crowd is also a useful habit, 
and this the average school tends to develop. But the real 
nature of the individual does not manifest itself under a 
regime of repression, where he works in vacuo, as it were, 
at formal tasks, and so does not temper his will in contest 
with that of his fellows in the effort to obtain goods which 
all desire. Really, our methods of school organization and 
management in considerable part have come down to us 
from a time when education was thought to consist mainly 
in the mastery of books. A teacher of the old faith would 
often prefer to have pupils read about self-restraint than to 
acquire it by actual experience in the classroom or on the 
playground. Such teachers fail to appreciate that a system 
of order which does not proceed largely, though not wholly, 
from the self-guidance of pupils, in view of the results of 
their action in adjusting themselves to one another and to 
established authority, will not endure a severe test in the 
world when pressure from without is removed. On the other 
hand, to put the young child's behavior wholly in his own 
hands must result in chaos, for he cannot wisely utilize 
such freedom, as we shall try to show at length in later 
chapters. 

The principle advocated above has been partially realized 
in the kindergarten. Here there is less isolation of individ- 

others in storing up, in accumulating the maximum of information. So 
thoroughly is this the prevalent atmosphere that for one child to help an- 
other in his task has hecome a school crime. Where the school work consists 
simply in learning lessons, mutual assistance, instead of being the most 
natural form, of cooperation and association, becomes a clandestine efBort 
to relieve one's neighbor in his proper duties. Where active work is going 
on, all this is changed. Helping others, instead of being a form of charity 
■which impoverishes the recipient, is simply an aid in setting free the powers 
and furthering the impulses of the one helped. A spirit of free communi- 
cation, of interchange of ideas, suggestions, results, both successes and fail- 
ures of previous experiences, becomes the dominating note of the recitation." 



264 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

uals than in the grades beyond. It is the aim to make all 
activities co(5perative in large part, — to have the 
pie partially children play and work together, and learn to 
the kinder- give and to take, to receive benefits and to confer 
garten them. The kindergartner, the wise kindergartner, 

is simply the most experienced member of the group, who 
brings her wisdom to the solution of the perplexing situa- 
tions which arise in the surpassingly difficult task of chil- 
dren acquiring the ability to live together in the spirit of 
justice and peace. Such a kindergartner makes prominent 
the social ideal in all conflicts, and she does not permit it 
to be obscured by selfishness and passion. She helps her 
children to discover in their daily adjustments what sort 
of conduct will yield the largest results in promoting the 
happiness of all. 

It is doubtless true, though, that many kindergartners 
have overestimated the capacity of the child to derive nour- 
ishment from mere abstractions regarding social relations. 
It is not dogmatic to say that the child of five cannot nor- 
mally understand or profit by instruction regarding the 
brotherhood of man, or the love of country, or divine love. 
He is prepared to take only his first lessons, based on his 
concrete experiences with his playmates, in the doctrine that 
he must do unto others as he would be done by. His train- 
ing wiU be profitable only as it concerns his direct relations 
to those immediately about him. He cares nothing about 
theoretical social conduct. It is to him a matter of indif- 
ference whether he ought or ought not to love his country, 
because his present adjustments do not involve that love in 
any way. His social interests centre about his home, his 
school, his street, and they go no further. To talk to him 
much about these vast generalizations must result in doing 
him injury in his later social development ; for he will grow 
weary of it all, and when he ought to be hungering for it he 
will have none of it. Most adults can recall how fruitless in 
their religious life was the study of the old catechism, and 



MORAL INSTRUCTION 265 

how often it turned people against the very thing to which 
it sought to win them, because it presented highly concen- 
trated spiritual nutriment, for which their spiritual digestive 
organs were not ready. 

It has been implied throughout the discussion thus far 
that social efficiency is not a simple thing to be learned from 
books, or lectures, or discussions, though these Thenues- 
may be made of service if they supplement rather ^°o"a?in- 
than take the place of more fundamental methods struction 
of training. However, it is natural for people to wish to find 
some easy, definite, cut-and-dried way of attaining ends of 
a complex character in the education of the child ; but we 
ought not to be led astray in our country by any such desire, 
considering that we have the experience of older nations as 
a warning to us in this regard. When men work out an 
elaborate course in more or less formal instruction in con- 
duct, they readily come to the conclusion that the moral 
needs of the young will be properly cared for thereby, and 
they abandon their efforts to solve the more difficult but 
really vital problems of effective social training. " We will 
develop social efficiency in our special course, much as we 
develop musical or artistic ability in special courses "; so 
they Beason. But the experiments of European countries in 
teaching religion and morals * should show our American 
people that this is largely a fallacious doctrine. But granting 
that we give due attention to the prerequisites indicated in 
the foregoing paragraphs, then we may profitably have some 
specific instruction in respect to social attitudes which should 
be required of every one. The official programme of topics 
for the French schools is undoubtedly the best that has been 
prepared in any country, and it includes all the subjects that 
could be considered in our American schools, wherein reli- 
gious instruction is prohibited. This programme (abridged) 
follows : — 

Infant section : ages 5 to 7 years. — Very simple talks mingled 
1 See Farrington, The Primary Schools of France. 



266 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

with all the exercises of the class and of recreation. Simple poems 
explained and learned by heart ; stories, songs. Special care by 
the teacher in regard to children showing any defect in character 
or any vicious tendency. 

Primary section : ages 7 to 9 years. — Familiar conversations, 
readings (examples, precepts, parables) . Practical exercises tend- 
ing to moral activity in the class itself : 1. By observation of 
individual character, tlie gentle correction of faults, and the de- 
velopment of good qualities. 2. By the intelligent appreciation of 
school discipline as a means of education. 3. By appeal to the feel- 
ings and moral judgment of the child himself. 4. By the correc- 
tion of vulgar notions, of prejudices, and of superstitions. 5. By 
instruction drawn from facts observed by the pupils themselves. 

Intermediate section : ages 9 to 11 years. — Familiar talks, 
reading illustrative examples with comments, practical exercises 
as in the elementary section, but with a little more method and 
precision. 

I. (a) The child in the family : Duties toward parents and 
grandparents : Obedience, respect, love, recognition ; aiding par- 
ents in their work, tending them in sickness, caring for them in 
their old age. 

Duties of brothers and sisters : Loving each other ; watchful 
care of the elder over the younger ; effect of example. 

Duties toward servants : To treat them with politeness and with 
kindness. 

(b) The child in the school : Earnestness, docility, industry, 
civility. Duties toward the teacher. Duties toward comrades. 

(c) The country : Grandeur and misfortune of France. Duties 
toward the country and society. 

II. Duties toward one's self : Care of the body ; cleanliness, 
sobriety, and temperance ; dangers of drunkenness ; gymnastics. 

Use and care of property : Economy ; avoiding debts ; effects 
of gambling, prodigality, avarice, etc. 

The soul : Veracity and sincerity ; personal dignity and self- 
respect ; modesty ; recognition of one's own faults ; evils of pride, 
vanity, coquetry, frivolity ; shame of ignorance and idleness ; 
courage in peril and misfortune ; patience ; personal initiative ; 
evils of anger. 

Regard for animals : Kindness toward ; society their natural 
protector. 

Duties toward other men : Justice and charity ; the Golden 



MORAL INSTRUCTION 267 

Rule ; kindness, fraternity, tolerance, and respect for the beliefs 
of others. 

{Note. — In all these considerations the teacher should assume 
the existence of conscience, of the moral law, and moral obliga- 
tion. He should appeal to the feeling and the idea of duty and of 
responsibility. He should not attempt to demonstrate these by 
theoretical statements.) 

III. Duties toward God. The teacher is not required to give a 
course upon the nature and attributes of God. The instruction 
which he is to give to all without distinction is limited to two points : 
First, he teaches his pupils not to speak the name^f God lightly. 
He clearly associates in their minds with the idea of the First 
Cause and of the Perfect Being a sentiment of respect and of venera- 
tion, the same as is associated with these ideas under the different 
aspects of their religious training. 

Then, and without concerning himself with the prescriptions 
special to the different religious beliefs, the teacher will strive to 
have the child comprehend and feel that the first duty he owes to 
divinity is obedience to the laws of God, as revealed to him in his 
conscience and his reason. 

Higher section : ages 11 to 13 years. — Exercises on ideas of 
previous years continued and expounded ; special development of 
social morality : 1. The family ; 2. Society, justice, the conditions 
of all society ; solidai-ity, fraternity (alcoholism ; its destruction 
little by little of the social sentiments by destroying the power of 
the will and the feeling of personal responsibility) ; development 
of the idea of the native land ; the duties of the citizen (obe- 
dience to the laws, the military service, discipline, devotion, 
fidelity to the flag) ; imposts (condemnation of fraud toward the 
state) ; the ballot (it is a moral obligation ; it ought to be free, 
conscientious, disinterested, enlightened) ; rights corresponding 
to these duties ; Personal liberty, liberty of conscience, liberty in 
respect to work, in respect to association ; of the general secur- 
ity of life and property ; the national sovereignty ; explanation of 
the republican motto, " Libei'ty, equality, fraternity." 

Under each head of the course in social morals the teacher 
should explain clearly, but without entering into metaphysical 
discussions : (1) The difference between duty and interest, even 
when they seem to be confounded with each other ; that is to say, 
the imperative and disinterested nature of duty ; (2) the dis- 
tinction between the written and the moral law ; the one fixes a 



268 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

minimum of prescriptions that society imposes upon all its mem- 
bers under definite penalties for violations of the same ; the other 
imposes upon each one in his secret conscience a duty which no 
one obliges him to fulfill, but which he cannot neglect without the 
sense of a wrong to himself and to God.^ 

A word may be added here regarding the general con- 
ceptions which should govern us in discussing these topics 
The metiioa with children of different ages. In the first place, 
°*orar\*Sf- ^* ™^y^ ^^ impressed through repetition that the 
cipies child in the kindergarten and primary school can- 

not possibly by any sort of instruction receive marked bene- 
fit from a discussion of his duties to the state, for exam- 
ple, since his experience has not made it possible for him 
to conceive of the state in a definite way, and much less to 
realize that he bears any vital relations to it. One may lis- 
ten to lessons on patriotism given to young children, that 
not only fail to accomplish any good, but may be of posi- 
tive harm, since the continual talking about matters which 
are not appreciated probably dulls the mind for their re- 
ception when the individual should be ready for them. In 
due season every pupil can be made to respond to instruc- 
tion in civic duties, but not until he can at least glimpse 
the unity of society, and the responsibilities and duties of 
its members, considering that each is the recipient of many 
favors conferred by society as a whole. When the broaden- 
ing life of the individual enables him to feel these larger 
relations, then, and not before, is the time to introduce 
lessons relating thereto. Teachers are apt to assume that 
because they themselves appreciate the organic character 
of society, their pupils have the same conception, and can 
profitably receive instruction in their civic duties. But the 
average child of eight, say, has and can gain little if aiiy 
sense of the organic character of society, and the duties and 
privileges of an individual. However, in due course, by the 
age of twelve at any rate, it will be possible to develop this 

^ See Report of Commissioner of Education, 1901, pp. 1124, 1125. 



TEACHING MORAL PRINCIPLES 269 

idea clearly in his thought, if he can begin with a very 
simple community, and see the relations existing between 
the people therein. Later he should trace how these rela- 
tions change in certain respects as a community becomes 
more and more complex. In this way only can he be made 
to realize how completely his welfare depends upon the con- 
duct of his fellows, and how his every act influences their 
well-being. 

The general principle in question should be worked out 
a little further. The instruction of pupils in the elementary 
school must concern their immediate^ every-day. The pupil 
concrete relations with their parents, their brothers ^^ea'ihe** 
and sisters, their teachers, the servants, their play- social no- 
fellows, their schoolmates, the aged, the poor, the every moral 
unfortunate, and so on. If this instruction is made ^ge^^upo^ 
in any way formal or conventional or perfunctory, iim 
it will miss the mark altogether ; and this is the chief 
danger when the average teacher attempts to give set les- 
sons in morals. One may hear such lessons given in Euro- 
pean schools where, as intimated above, the experiment is 
being tried on a larger scale than with us, and an observer 
is likely to feel often that no substantial good results there- 
from. Unless a teacher is an expert in this delicate work, 
he might better not attempt it at all. But if he can, with- 
out any artificiality or assumed virtue, and through cgar 
Crete study and skillful suggestion, lead his pupils to see how 
they are dependent for practically everything they enjoy 
upon the people with whom they come in contact, and how 
vitally they affect others through their behavior, and so 
what they ought to do and must do if all are to be made 
most happy, then his instruction will probably take effect 
for good. From first to last the teacher must found his 
teaching upon a rational basis. He must guide his pupils to 
see that there is a sound reason for every act that is de- 
manded of them, whether positively in the performance of 
altruistic and charitable and patriotic deeds, or negatively 



270 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

in the suppression of acts that would operate against the 
well-being of the whole. It may be urged again that our 
children must be got to feel that all are members of one 
body, and that no one liveth to himself alone ; every thought 
and every act has social bearings, so that no one can do 
" whatever he pleases," except to choose among those lines 
of conduct that are in accord with social requirements. Of 
course, the teacher will not attempt the broadest general- 
izations in this field with young children ; it will be time 
enough to draw them with the senior class in the univer- 
sity. But in every concrete act he discusses he must lead 
his pupils to discern what ought to be done, because of the 
influence of the act on the welfare of others. 

If this method should be followed throughout the schools, 
we might succeed in making our pupils social minded^ 
which is the great end to be kept constantly in view in 
moral instruction. If when my pupil leaves my school I 
shall have got him into the way of thinking and feeling of 
himself as most intimately related in every thought and 
deed to the people about him, individually and collectively ; 
and if I shall have succeeded in developing in him an 
appreciation of why certain modes of behavior have been 
insisted upon by the race, and why moral conduct, in the 
large if not in details, is absolutely essential for the per- 
petuity of society, and so for the promotion of the well- 
being of each individual, — if I can equip my pupil with 
these ideas, and make them effective through appropriate 
feelings, I shall have done the most I possibly can for him 
in his moral instruction. 

Now, this is what one misses in the moral instruction he 
observes in many, at least, of the schools. The children 
learn in an ex cathedra fashion how they should conduct them- 
selves at table, say, or on the street, and the like ; but they 
do not see very clearly why courtesy and self-restraint and 
similar virtues are absolutely essential. They are left with 
the impression that they are expected to deport themselves 



INSTRUCTION DURING ADOLESCENCE 271 

in certain ways because it is the custom, or is more or less 
arbitrarily demanded of them by their elders ; but whether 
the custom is rational and so just does not appear. Such 
instruction fails to take a firm hold on either the intellect 
or the feelings : and while some good may be accomplished 
by it, still it is in considerable part fruitless. 

Before closing this topic a word should be said regarding 
special instruction during the critical period of adolescence. 
Now is the time to make most prominent the rea- Moral in- 
sonableness of honor in all relations of life, and d^^j^g'^ao- 
the necessity for altruism, heroism, patriotism, lescence 
industry, and so on. The skillful teacher can lead any ado- 
lescent pupil to see that those nations in which the funda- 
mental moral attitudes are most prominent are the strongest, 
the most progressive, and the happiest. It can also be made 
evident that an individual cannot live either a happy or a suc- 
cessful life who does not realize in his own conduct the moral 
ideals of his times. The reasonableness of moral conduct 
must be made especially prominent with the adolescent ; 
and, too, his moral impulses must be enriched by an abun- 
dance of literature in which the moral life is depicted in a 
concrete, vivid, and attractive way. We need to go care- 
fully over all the world's literature, and determine what is 
most fruitful in moral suggestiveness for the adolescent. 

Particular heed must, of course, be paid to the develop- 
ment in the adolescent of sentiment for the opposite sex, and 
the necessity of directing the attention away from primary 
sex activities, through centring it on all the higher manifes- 
tations of love, honor, and devotion. We must work in this 
critical field almost wholly through suggestion; we must 
keep the mind of youth filled with concrete types of purity, 
genuineness, heroism, and chivalry of the highest kind, as 
disj)layed in all the complex situations of daily life. This is 
the sort of experience that will count for most in radiating, 
refining, and idealizing the impulses pertaining to sex. We 
cannot accomplish a great deal through explicit instruction 



272 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

regarding the special morality of sex relations; indeed, such 
instruction has been known to exert a morbid influence upon 
hypersensitive adolescents. The most effective method of 
control of wrong action in this field is by utilizing in moral 
activities the energies which otherwise would nourish such 
action. It is a question of the direction in which the forces 
of the organism shall be expended. Mere prohibitive in- 
struction, or even positive instruction which makes ideals 
prominent, but which leaves the attention unoccupied, and 
furnishes no strong incentives to wholesome conduct, must 
prove ineffective in the main. In our country to-day there 
is danger in some quarters of teachers resting content with 
more or less formal lessons on the special problems of adoles- 
cence, thinking that knowledge alone will inhibit undesir- 
able conduct. Observation of the phenomena of daily life 
should show any person how false is this doctrine. 

Students of human nature in all times have urged the necessity of 
education in developing social efficiency. The need for specific social 
training arises out of the child's inability to adapt himself 
readily and effectively to the more vital phases of the social 
environment into which he is born. The young child seems to be about 
on a par with primitive man in his social attitudes ; and his education 
must bring him into harmony with the customs, ideals, and institutions 
of present-day society. Intense individualistic feelings and actions must 
be brought under control, and cooperation must largely take the place 
of original tendencies to opposition and aggression. 

Educative experience in a variety of typical social situations is the 
first requisite. Rules and precepts of social conduct without actual 
social practice are of little educative value. In crucial moments habits, 
motor tendencies, and not verbally memorized theories, determine the 
individual's conduct. 

The only child in a family ordinarily does not have the give-and-take 
experiences with his fellows necessary for the development of social 
insight and a spirit of cooperation, and hence he rarely becomes a really 
efficient citizen and agreeable friend and neighbor. Hard knocks re- 
sulting from concrete experience in social adjustment are essential to 
effective learning of ethical and moral principles. Only through give 
and take in social situations can the novice acquire either self-assertion 
or self-restraint. 

The present-day tendency among us is to give children larger oppor- 
tunitiea for gaining helpful experience during the formative period. 



R:6sUMi: 273 

The time for vital social education is before maturity is reached. 
After adolescence the individual becomes relatively stable and non- 
adaptive. 

Mere gregariousness is not sufficient for social development. The 
individual must have occasions to organize and reflect upon his expe- 
rience in seclusion. The group tends to suppress individuality beyond a 
given point. Nevertheless, the group grows in social efficiency through 
contributions made by individuals who in certain respects are non- 
conformists. The individual must gain suggestions for social adjust- 
ment outside of the group, especially as development proceeds, — from 
history, literature, art, science, and the like. 

Social training must be dynamic ; static methods cannot develop 
social efficiency. In the effort to adopt dynamic methods, the tendency 
to-day is toward substituting suggestion and direction for mere sup- 
pression. At best, negation carried to the extreme can make of the 
individual only a follower, never a leader. 

The public school, as it exists among us, is of service mainly in the 
development of certain social virtues of secondary importance, after 
all, in effective social adjustment. The school is conducted largely on 
the plan of social isolation. Communication, cooperation, participation 
are to a considerable extent eliminated. The organization and manage- 
ment of the school should be based primarily on the principle of self- 
guidance. 

The ideal in social training is partly realized in the kindergarten. 
The aim here is to have children learn, through give-and-take relations 
with associates, what sort of conduct will best promote the happiness 
of all. 

Specific instruction in morality can only supplement the prerequisite 
of vital social experience. The child in the kindergarten and primary 
school cannot receive much benefit from the discussion of civic duties, 
say. Not until his broadening life enables him to feel these larger re- 
lations is he prepared for the reception of civic ideas. For young chil- 
dren there must be no formal, conventional lessons in morals ; such 
lessons must be based on and grow out of the children's concrete 
social experience. 

The child must be led to see the reason for every act, positive or 
negative, demanded of him. Pupils should be made to appreciate that 
all are members of one body. The reasonableness of moral laws must 
be made especially prominent for the adolescent. His moral impulses 
must be quickened and enriched by the best literature depicting moral 
life in a concrete and attractive way. The mind of the youth should 
be kept filled with concrete types of purity, genuineness, heroism, and 
chivalry of the highest kind. Not prohibition nor even positive instruc- 
tion, but rather keeping the attention occupied in the right way, is the 
thing of prime importance at this time. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE CRITICAL PERIOD 

The tendency of grown people to deal with an infant in the 
light of their own adult experiences is indicated, among other 
Infant's ^^J^' ^J *^® significance they attach to his expres- 
reaotions sions of dissatisfaction with the course of events 
social en- in his daily life. The mother is always sorely af- 
vironment flirted whenever she is herself moved to tears, and 
she instinctively feels that the same must be true of her 
child. Most of us think we should, as a rule, do everything 
in our power to give comfort to an adult in distress, and we 
tend, more or less subconsciously, to treat the infant in a 
similar manner whenever he shows signs of discomfort. It 
is quite disturbing to many adults, particularly those who 
are relieved from a life of hard, crude labor in the struggle 
for physical existence, to hear a babe crying, for they feel it 
must be suffering severely ; and they will go to great lengths 
to ease his burdens whenever he utters a note of disquietude. 
Governesses will fly to his cradle, and respond to his lamen- 
tations with soothing tones and caresses, no matter what 
may be the cause of his protestations. In a large proportion 
of modern urban homes, a woman is engaged to give herself 
wholly to the service of the child, and she must be ever 
ready to do his bidding. It is important for the reader to 
appreciate that it is not the duty of this caretaker to train 
the child so much as to serve him. Unhappily, as we have 
already seen in preceding chapters, the child will normally 
take undue advantage of those whom he can command, — 
not purposefully, or maliciously, of course, but instinctively. 
Elsewhere it has been intimated that every child is a bully 
by birth ; which means that it is his ambition to secure all 
desirable things and privileges for himself, without due re- 



THE CHILD'S METHOD OF COERCION 275* 

gard for the feelings and rights of others. The child is, not 
reflectively but impulsively, an egoist, using this term in the 
popular sense. He is not " to blame " for his selfishness ; he 
is simply constructed so that he struggles incessantly to add 
to his own pleasures, and he makes use of every one who, 
as he thinks, can help him to attain his ends. 

The child is adept in the employment of effective artifices 
to induce others to serve him. Few mothers or nurses in 
present-day urban life, when the sensibilities have The child as 
become so acute, can long resist the squalling of ^ercingWs 
a vigorous and " determined " child. Sooner or caretakers 
later, if he be persevering, his caretakers will yield to his 
entreaties. An angry, or even a " spunky " child, who ex- 
presses his feeling vocally, is very trying to the nerves of 
most adults in these days, except people with rather primi- 
tive susceptibilities ; and it is instructive to observe the effect 
upon his trainers of this forceful method of coercion. Many 
children, making their first trials in intimidation, manifest 
a persistency in their efforts, and a mastery of a wide range 
of coercive measures in the face of an obstinate environment, 
which, viewed from one standpoint, are worthy of great ad- 
miration. Even the untaught and inexperienced child is a 
real expert in the art of teasing for what he wishes. Nature 
has equipped him with means for practicing this mode of 
compulsion, which give him extraordinary power in influ- 
encing the people who determine his welfare. There is a 
subtle force in an indefatigable child's importuning, which 
strikes into the vitals of the hesitating adult ; and if the 
latter does not put an end to the teasing without delay, the 
chances are he will capitulate if the siege is long continued. 

In saying that the child's squalling is insignificant, it is 
not intended to imply that it is not of service in arousing 
those who hear it, and enlisting their sympathy ; but it does 
not necessarily denote that the child is in real need. Doubt- 
less the instinct to cry upon slight provocation is a more or 
less rudimentary trait, lasting over from a time when there 



276 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

were not so many incitements to the child's curiosity and 
desire for novel experience as there are in modern complex 
society. When life consisted mainly in a struggle for physical 
survival, and the child's wants were confined to the securing 
of food and protection from physical pain, then his crying 
might have been properly adjusted to his actual necessities ; 
— it might have been truly significant. Further, in primi- 
tive life adults are not so sensitive to the needs of the young 
as they are in modern society, so that in those times it re- 
quired more vigorous and frequent appeals from the child 
to stimulate his caretakers to give him proper attention than 
it requires in modern society. Under present-day conditions, 
then, when adults have more leisure than of old, and have 
become highly sensitized to expressions of pain or desire in 
any form, the child's demonstrations, suited to other times, 
tend normally to produce reactions out of all proportion to 
their importance. And here appears one of the most serious 
problems in social education ; in a highly responsive society 
the sympathies (and also the irritations) of adults are likely 
to be too easily aroused by the young in many of their ex- 
pressions. In simple terms, the young child wants every- 
thing he sees, and the tendency of the adult (not all adults, 
but the type increases in numbers as the race develops) is 
to yield to him so that he may not be " unhappy," or so that 
he may cease his persecution. 

It is unquestionably within reason to say that back of 
much of the untrained child's squalling there is nothing at 
Misinter- all serious, of either a physical or a mental charac- 

chiidisiT"* *®^' -^^ *^^ ^^^® ^^ ^^ adult there is normally a 
expression very complex inhibiting mechanism, established 
by experience and formal education, against the shedding 
of tears, and he must feel deep and distressing emotion or 
keen physical pain in order that the " floodgates of the 
soul" may be opened. But in the young child there are 
none of these subjective restraints ; all he knows is to " let 
go " upon slight disagreeable stimulation, usually an ex.. 



DEVELOPING COERCIVE TENDENCIES 277 

presslon of appeal, protest, or disapproval. The crying pro- 
cess in tlie infant is all ready to be touched off at any 
moment by any sort of unfavorable experience. It is to a 
large extent a reflex, and therefore practically an unmeaning 
affair, though it may stir up unhappy emotions in the child 
if it be allowed to continue for an indefinite period. 

It should be evident that the child who continually suc- 
ceeds in his pleading and coercing is a subject for pity 
rather than congratulation. As his range of con- ^ow the 

tact and activity enlarges, his desires increase, of cMidisen- 

. . , T . . oouraged In 

course ; and not having experienced limitations to his coercive 

his demands, he feels that every one must serve *«''*'"i°^®* 
him. He has not learned to serve himself, and so he has 
not become resourceful or self-reliant. His nurse and mother 
and governess have ministered to his needs constantly ; and 
why should not all persons do the same ? So the child who 
has always " had his own way " anticipates that he will 
always have it in the future. This is a simple but vastly 
important principle of human nature ; what has been char- 
acteristic of one's experience in the past will be expected 
to continue to be characteristic of it in the future. If any 
adult is obstinate or negligent, a "tantrum " will bring him 
to time. Tantrums come " naturally " to children ; but they 
are not apt to endure long unless the actor fiuds that they 
take well. The child is just an experimenter with methods 
of gaining his egoistic ends ; and whatever will bring the 
desired result most speedily and effectively is the thing to 
practice most frequently, of course. This is based upon a 
perfectly normal and fundamental principle of human na- 
ture, which determines our activities at every period of 
life. 

Experience and theory alike indorse the proposition that 
a child of five, say, will not normally fly Into a passion 
whenever he is opposed in his designs unless he has been 
from his earliest months encouraged (not intentionally, of 
course, but nevertheless effectually) in this method of ren- 



278 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

dering the people about him amenable to his control. When 
the child is learning how he must adjust himself to people, 
and what is the most effective way of rendering them sub- 
missive, he discovers, let us say, that if he throws himself 
angrily on the floor and screams at the top of his voice when 
his mother resists his importunities, the latter will in due 
course relent, and do whatever he commands. Now, it is 
entirely " natural " that he should resort to this method of 
coercion whenever he is resisted by any one. Nature bids 
him to get what he wants, and to be keen in detecting the 
best method of accomplishing his ends. 

In modern social life the display of rage, as just mentioned, 
is especially prominent, since we are passing through an era 
of child training by governesses. In the great majority of 
cases of angry conflict between a child and his governess, 
the mother will be disturbed when she hears screaming in 
the house, and she will come to the rescue of the little 
rebel. Thus the bullying tendency is deepened in the child, 
and it is not long before it extends to persons outside the 
nursery. Let any inexperienced person study the regime of 
a present-day nursery, and note how frequently a youngster 
may be heard saying to his nurse or mother, " If you don't 
give it to me, I '11 yell," or " I '11 kick the floor," or " I '11 
not eat my supper," and so on ad libitum. If social life 
were more simple than it is, so that the child might desire 
but relatively few things, this bullying attitude of his might 
not be a serious disadvantage to him or to his associates ; 
but it is otherwise with most of the children whom we 
must train. If the individual does not learn early to be 
satisfied with some small portion of the vast variety of ob- 
jects in his environment, he can scarcely escape constant 
conflict with those who attempt to train him. Moreover, 
his own nervous energy will be wholly inadequate to sustain 
him in all his demands, unless he discovers early that he 
must restrain himself in his acquisitive passion. Ill-trained 
children in modern urban communities are to a considerable 



INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 279 

extent in a condition of nervous overstrain ; ^ their lives are 

pitched in too high a key, in the sense that they are called 

upon to respond to a complexity of stimulation quite beyond 

their energies. They do not sufficiently feel the checks to 

desire and its gratification which alone can keep response 

within the bounds set by the normal supply of vital force. 

While all children find it easy to practice the arts of 

compulsion as indicated above, yet some employ them more 

persistently and effectively than others. Two i^aiyidTiai 

brothers, apparently trained in exactly the same differenoes 
1 •■ 1 Ml . i-p<. • in the non- 

way, may be cited to illustrate ditterent types m conforming 

this respect. One, J., adapts himself quite readily disposition 

to the people about him. The primitive impulse to "have 

his own way " is in him, but it does not assert itself with 

great rigor on all occasions against the action of father, 

mother, teacher, and companions. This boy will often 

accept suggestions without much protest, and he will not 

lose himself in a rage if his demands are not always acceded 

to. J. " teases " to a certain extent when those in authority 

refuse his requests, but he does not often keep at it for 

a long period until he irritates all who may be near him 

and becomes fatigued himself. It is comparatively easy for 

him to abandon any particular thing he desires and become 

satisfied with a substitute. 

But it is very different with the second boy, H. He must 

have his own way on all occasions, or he will make things 

" warm " for everybody within reach. When he is blocked 

in the attainment of his desires his vocal, facial, and bodily 

expressions all reveal intense feeling of resentment, and he 

remains in this attitude until he either attains his ends or 

becomes utterly fatigued. As a consequence he has, up 

until his ninth year, bullied most of those appointed to 

exercise authority over him. It is probable that as a matter 

of natural endowment his primitive aggressive and non- 

^ The author has discussed this matter in detail in his Dynamic Factors in 
Education, Part II. 



280 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

conforming tendencies are more persistent and urgent than 

in the case of his brother ; but, in addition, his training 

has been well calculated to develop whatever he may have 

inherited in this respect. He was especially attractive as 

a baby, and this characteristic insured him indulgence in 

his aggressions, which would not have been tolerated in a 

child of less aesthetic mould. 

It is in some respects a disadvantage to the practice of 

a rational educational regime in modern society that the 

The child's J^ung child is so winsome as he usually is. If he 

winsome- ^[^ j^q^ appeal so strongly to adults they would 

ness often \\ ° '' . f 

a disadvan- not SO readily yield to his coercion, and it would 

*^* doubtless in the majority of cases be better for 

him in the end.^ Most grown persons seem to find a cer- 
tain amount of pleasure in observing an infant assert 
himself ; they apparently think it is quite a joke that a 
tiny thing should show so much spirit, and thus they un- 
wittingly encourage his rebellious and bullying attitudes 
by rewarding him with their smiles when he aggresses in 
any way upon those about him, or resists the imposition of 
authority. Of course, no physical harm can come to any 
one from the child's aggressions during the first two or 
three years, when he is helpless ; but when he reaches the 
age of eight or nine, an altogether different situation arises. 
He may proceed at ten on exactly the same principle as he 
did at two ; but instead of his expressions being received 
with smiles they are now returned with blows, because he 

^ "Those therefore that intend ever to govern their Children, should 
begin whilst they are very little, and look that they perfectly comply with 
the Will of their Parents. Would you have your Son obedient to you when 
past a Child ; be sure then to establish the Authority of a Father as soon as 
he is capable of Submission, and can understand in whose Power he is. If 
you would have him stand in awe of you, imprint it in his Infancy ; and as 
he approaches more to a Man admit him nearer to your Familiarity ; so shall 
you have him your obedient Subject (as is fit) whilst he is a Child, and 
your afEectionate Friend when he is a Man. For methinks they mightily 
misplace the Treatment due to their Children, who are indulgent and 
familiar when they are little, but severe to them and keep them at a dis- 
tance when they are grown up." — Locke, Education (Quick), sec. 40. 



THE REAL PROBLEM OF HOME TRAINING 281 

seriously interferes with the privileges and pleasures of 
others. Herein appears the real problem of child training 
in the majority of American homes. The child tends to 
acquire certain attitudes toward his social environment 
during the first two years of his life that he cannot possibly 
continue during his maturity, without incessant storm and 
stress for himself and his associates, and especially his 
trainers. As he grows older the parent, the teacher, and 
the community are in frequent conflict with him in the 
effort to resist his predatory ambitions, or to undo what 
was more or less thoughtlessly, but nevertheless thoroughly, 
established in the beginning. 

Does this mean that the child for his own good should 
be dealt with severely during his early years ? It has been 
already said that a child normally exhibits social and desir- 
able as well as anti-social and undesirable traits ; and if his 
trainers should from the start reward the former with their 
caresses, while manifesting in an explicit manner displea- 
sure at the latter, he would be aided in learning rightly to 
appraise different kinds of actions. The only way a child 
can discover that certain sorts of conduct are wrong is that 
they are effectively resented by the people about him. He 
sees that they turn out ill for him, so they must be abandoned. 

It seems apparent that, speaking generally, a child will 
be far happier in the end if he is from the beginning resisted 
in his wrong-doing, rather than if he is allowed, Qonfomitv 
for the sake of immediate peace, to continue in his essential to 
erring ways. A child has a right to be brought up or social 
under a vigorous regime, in which a clear line of ^^^^^^ing 
demarcation is made between what is good and to be indulged, 
and what is evil and to be avoided. Children who develop 
under such a regimen are unquestionably much happier than 
those who are trained under a system in which there is no 
explicit distinction between actions of varying values. In 
speaking in this manner it is not intended to attach great 
value to the direct prohibition of wrong action, and espe- 



282 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

cially not the suppression of spontaneity in the attempt thus 
to prevent wrong conduct by placing a penalty on action of 
every sort.^ Certainly the best results in training will be 
obtained if chief stress is laid upon desirable conduct, a 
point which requires a separate chapter for its proper con- 
sideration. But it may be said here that we must encourage 
the child in every way we can in the performance of social 
actions. We must endeavor to make right conduct attractive, 
so that it will claim his attention and determine the flow of 
his energy. That is to say, the method of training must be 
positive, not negative to any considerable extent ; though it 
probably is impossible to avoid a minimum amount of con- 
flict with the average child who is expressing himself in all 
directions, and whose impulses will be urgent in wrong as 
in right directions, imtil the energy which supports them is 
drafted into other channels, according to processes sketched 
elsewhere. 

Of the classic writers on Education, Locke more than any 
other believed in the prophylactic value of resistance to the 
child's aggressive and coercive tendencies in the early years, 
until he acquired the attitude of ready submission to the 
will of parent or teacher or other person in authority. We 
may glance at his view here, with indorsement of the essential 
principle involved, though we shall later bring the principle 
of positive education into greater prominence than Locke 
has done. He goes on to say ^ of the training of children : — 

A Compliance and Suppleness of their Wills, being by a steady 
Hand introduc'd by Parents, before Children have Memories to 
retain the Beginnings of it, will seem natural to them, and work 
afterwards in them, as if it were so, preventing all Occasions of 
struggling or repining. The only care is, that it be begun early, 

1 The present writer, in his Dynamic Factors in Education, Part I, has 
discussed at length the active nature and needs of childhood and youth, and 
the absolute necessity of providing opportunities for the indulgence of their 
dynamic tendencies, so that he does not fear that he will justly be accused of 
urging a mere static, prohibitive system of training. 

2 Locke, Education (Quick), p. 29. 



NEW PROBLEMS IN SOCIAL TRAINING 283 

and inflexibly kept to 'till Awe and Respect be grown familiar, 
and there appears not the least Reluctancy in the Submission and 
ready Obedience of their Minds. When the Reverence is thus 
once established (which it must be early, or else it will cost Pains 
and Blows to recover it, and the more the longer it is deferr'd), 
't is by it, still mixed with as much indulgence as they make not an 
ill use of, and not by Beating, Chiding, or other servile Punish- 
ments, they are for the future to be govern'd as they grow up to 
more Understanding. 

It has already been intimated that there are conditions 
in modern life which render the carrying out of these prin- 
ciples exceptionally difficult. To begin with, the jja^tf^gg 

demands upon the time and energy of women, in iiringnew 

, -x- • n V 1 problems In 

urban communities especially, have become so social train- 
pressing that some mothers are compelled to place ^^ 
their children's training in the hands of a hired substitute, 
while other mothers have no choice but to turn their off- 
spring on to the street. Leaving aside for the present the 
problem of social training on the street, we may take up 
again the question of the function of the governess in social 
education. It is not too much to say that we are, in our 
cities at any rate, going extensively into the business of 
rearing governess-bred children. Doubtless in some respects 
this is of advantage in social training ; the governess often 
relieves the mother so that she may touch the social life 
outside, and bring its lessons back to her children. But 
this regime has serious limitations. In the unsympathetic, 
mechanical, resourceless governess the young will have 
an uninspiring taskmaster, and such an one will develop 
antagonistic impulses in her charges. The children in The 
Golden Age, The Would-Be- Goods, The Treasure Seelo- 
ers, and similar accounts of normal child-life, are continu- 
ally expressing the antipathy they feel for this sort of 
person, and they are ever plotting to resist her authority. 
Is not this a good introduction to resistance, or at least in- 
difference, to the established order in society later on ? 
But there is another type of governess, one who goes to 



284 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

extremes in kindness, — sentimentalism is a more appro- 
priate term. She will do everything for a child that he may 
not become offended at her. She will bear all insults from 
him ; she will endure all bullying ; in short, she will be his 
obedient servant on all occasions. She will be inclined to 
coax and pet and flatter him, and this will lead the young 
autocrat to assume a wrong attitude toward people in gen- 
eral ; for it is inevitable that the child who acquires the 
habit of browbeating his governess will try to make his 
methods work with every one else. The interest of the gov- 
erness in the child is really for the moment, not for eter- 
nity ; she desires things to move on to-day with as little 
friction as possible, and thus she develops friction, as it 
were, for the morrow. Herein lies the chief source of mis- 
chief in all training by those whose responsibility is for the 
hour only. They do not keep in view the whole span of 
the individual's life, and so they do not take into account 
the remote effects of their methods. 

Then, when the authority to settle finally questions of 
conduct is located in some person other than the one who 
habitually deals with a child, there is certain to be trouble 
ahead. The tendency of the child when resisted is always to 
pull away from the person who is dealing with him, and 
petition higher powers to protect him or to aid him in his 
resistance or aggression. As intimated elsewhere, a parent 
who comes upon a scene of conflict between a child and his 
trainer will usually sympathize with the former. It is, of 
course, a matter of instinctive response mainly; reflection 
generally plays no part in such a situation. Adults tend to 
side with the weaker individual in any contest ; and then the 
child is so demonstrative in his expressions, while the trainer 
is comparatively calm and inexpressive, that the bystander, 
can with difficulty avoid feeling that the former must be th^> 
aggrieved individual. In modern society adult sentimen,tS; 
are exceedingly responsive to tears and other expressions pf 
discomfort, and in a more or less irrational way \y^ take th^ 



THE FINAL AUTHORITY 285 

part of the rebellious or aggressive child as against his 
trainer, provided we come on the scene when the conflict 
is in progress, and do not appreciate all the circumstances 
leading up to it. 

So it is well-nigh impossible to secure effective social 
education where the person who is charged with the care of 
children does not feel absolutely free to deal with them in 
the manner required to develop in them respect for and 
ready compliance with social law. The trainer must feel that 
he has final authority ; that there can be no appeal ; and the 
child must realize this, so that he wiU not be in a resistant 
attitude, thinking he can gain the assistance of some one 
higher up. When the parent, or principal of a school either, 
delegates the training to a governess or a teacher, and then 
reserves for himself the right of enforcement of rules of 
conduct when there is conflict, only disharmony and ineffi- 
ciency can ensue. One who puts the education of his chil- 
dren in the hands of another must refuse absolutely to 
interfere for the time being; in no other way can teacher 
and pupil be put into the right attitude toward one another, 
so that the latter may grow in ready observance of social 
regulations, expressed or implied in his daily adjustments. 

On account of its importance the principle under discus- 
sion is worthy of much emphasis, and so we may look at it 
from another standpoint. The presence about the Dispersed 
child of many adults who claim some rights in his renders gooa 

training; renders it difficult to deal with him effect- f°''^f^ ^^^^^' 

° , . Inglmpos- 

ively, because of the sentimental attitudes of mere sibie 

onlookers in cases of conflict. Here arises a situation, let us 

say, where a teacher thinks a pupil needs to be disciplined. 

A bystander who has not participated in the events from 

the start is not likely to have any of the feelings appropriate 

to the occasion. If the child now be penalized in any way, 

and if he appeals to this third person, the latter's sympathies 

will be stirred, and he can hardly prevent expressing them 

in the child's favor. So the latter becomes confirmed in the 



286 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

notion that he has been unjustly treated, and thus all the 
virtue of his discipline has been lost. Unless the entire 
social environment interprets the moral law in any situation 
in the same way without hesitancy or qualification, the child 
cannot gain the idea of its rightfulness and inevitableness, 
which is essential for healthful social development. Unhap- 
pily this principle is frequently not observed in either the 
home or the school. 

In this connection it may be pointed out that children are 
really happier and receive better training when the adults 
about them are at work, and they are themselves at play, 
than when persons are specially provided to serve and to 
entertain them. In popular terms a child's nature will not 
endure being entertained without being spoiled. Adults may 
plan a course of action for the child ; they may give him 
materials to work with ; but then they must retire and let 
things work themselves out. There is no doubting the fact 
that a mother doing her own work with a half-dozen chil- 
dren about her often gives them more effective social lessons 
than does she who has but one child, but who keeps a retinue 
of servants to attend to his " needs," as though he had any 
real need but opportunity to do for himself. A child can 
hardly learn obedience readily from people paid to teach it 
to him as a matter of principle. The only justification for 
obedience, and the only consideration which makes lessons 
in obedience really effective, is that the necessary work of 
the home or school may be accomplished without unneces- 
sary disturbance to any one. But if there is no work being 
done by those who deal with the child he will be governed 
accordingly, though he may for a time, for prudential rea- 
sons, conform outwardly to rules and regulations, the neces- 
sity for which is never deeply impressed upon him. 

This will be the best place, perhaps, in which to speak 
of the general attitude of the home and the school toward 
the child. It is becoming fashionable in educational circles 
to say that the school should be modeled after the home. 



THE HOME AND THE SCHOOL 287 

" The teacher should be a mother to her pupils " is a popu- 
lar sentiment of the hour. Doubtless this senti- „. . 

Tie nome 

ment is at bottom a wholesome one ; it stirs in and the 
teachers the kindlier feelings toward their chil- 
dren, and inclines them to take the point of view of the indi- 
vidual child. In an older day the teacher was perhaps too 
remote from his pupils ; he sometimes thought it was his 
mission to terrorize and coerce them, rather than to win and 
to g-uide them. The lines of pupils have apparently fallen in 
pleasanter places in these times ; but is there any danger of 
the modern school losing some of those characteristics which 
in the past differentiated it from the home, and made it more 
or less impressive to the pupil ? The home is an effective 
educational agency only in a quite restricted sense. Children 
in the home are not disposed to apply themselves to the 
larger social tasks except in a very general way. Much of 
what they gain in the home is likely to be of immediate 
value only ; they are not on the whole in an assimilative 
attitude toward a large part of that which will be of ser- 
vice in the complex situations of mature life. Children who 
are taught to read, write, spell, and cipher in their homes 
have to be literally driven to their tasks. The environment 
of the home strongly urges the child to more general and 
lively activities than are involved in mastering much of what 
the school must put him in possession of. Try to imagine 
a mother of forty children teaching them in the, home all 
the detailed knowledge and art which they must acquire in 
order to adjust themselves effectively to modern complex 
life. Most mothers have their hands more than full when 
they attempt to teach even one child. And the chief diffi- 
culty is that the child's attitudes toward his mother and 
everything in his home have in a measure unfitted him for 
the sort of effort demanded of him in mastering a large 
part of what the school must teach. 

When the child goes to school he must, as a matter of 
fact, assume a somewhat different attitude toward the life 



288 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

there from that which he has assumed toward the activities 
of the street and the home, so that for the time his extra- 
school interests may be suppressed, and he may put himself 
in a docile frame of mind toward the interests and activi- 
ties of the school. In the home the child is more or less of 
a boss, in a good sense ; that is to say, he is striving con- 
stantly to carry out his own plans, and make his conceptions 
potent in the world. But in the school he must be more of 
a learner ; he must respect the teacher, and keep himself 
always in an assimilative relation toward her. So she must 
seem a trifle remote from him, and the whole life of the school 
must tend to awaken a feeling of high regard in him. It 
must not seem too familiar, or ordinary. There must be 
some impressive ceremony in the school, so that the child 
may feel that it is distinguished from aU his outside life. 
This sort of thing can be carried too far ; but it is a serious 
mistake to have none of it. When one seeks to develop a 
respect for anything, he must remove it a little from the 
merely ordinary ; even adults are influenced in their atti- 
tudes toward institutions by a certain amount of appropriate 
ceremony. This is one reason why there is pomp and cere- 
mony in every community at commencement season, and pro- 
perly so. Young children are particularly in need of visible 
signs which suggest greatness and worth, to give dignity 
and significance to the things they must assimilate. So 
while making the school like the home in the matter of its 
regard for the individual child's nature and needs, we must 
nevertheless differentiate it from the home, and make it of 
such a character that the moment the child comes under its 
influence he will spontaneously assume a docile attitude to- 
ward all its activities. 

Our discussion has led us inevitably to the question, what, 

after all, is true sympathy for childliood? This 
Tniesym- i i /. ^^i a.i 

pathy for term appears to be used more irequently tnan any 

cMiahood Q^jjgj. jjj present-day educational speech and writ- 
ing. Parents and teachers are constantly exhorted to be 



TRUE SYMPATHY FOR CHILDHOOD 289 

sympathetic with their charges ; sympathy, we are told, is 
the essential requisite in child training, alike in the home and 
in the school. Without it all one's instruction falls upon 
arid soil, and the instructor becomes as sounding brass and 
a tinkling cymbal. We hear it said that childhood must be 
loved and nurtured ; it must be soothed in its troubles, and 
aided in every way to carry forward its own enterprises. 
Froebel, more than any one else perhaps, has been instru- 
mental in developing our modern respect and even rever- 
ence for child-life. Dickens should doubtless be next men- 
tioned ; and then follows a long list, — Montaigne, Locke, 
Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Spencer, and a vast number of con- 
temporary men and women. As a result of the labors of these 
great teachers, childhood is no longer regarded as a prepar- 
atory period in life, as an epoch of mere helplessness and im- 
maturity, to be passed over as speedily as possible. The child 
is not simply getting ready to live ; he is living in as real 
and vital a sense as he ever will live. His thoughts and feel- 
ings, his desires and ambitions, his doubts and beliefs, — 
all are entitled to equal consideration with those of the adult. 
They must not be ignored as things of mere transitory value, 
nor should we attempt to supplant them by the views and 
ideals and feelings of maturity. It is this consciousness, so 
marked in our own day, of the importance of the period of 
childhood, together with the growing refinement in feeling 
and sensitiveness to pain, that has given rise to our present 
belief that sympathy is the most necessary quality in the 
teacher and the parent. 

And what do people have in mind when they speak of a 
sympathetic attitude toward the young ? Not so much in- 
sight into the tendencies and needs of a developing being as 
a willigness to serve him, to " make him happy," to assist 
him in attaining his childish desires. Sympathy in the large 
sense may mean an appreciation of another's point of view, 
and an understanding of the motives lying back of his actions, 
without simulating all his pains and pleasures ; or it may 



290 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

mean simply the sharing of another's joys and sorrows as 

outwardly revealed. It is in this latter sense that many 

teachers and parents are to-day striving to be sympathetic. 

One may go into homes and schools where he can see the 

child as the central figure, himself determining largely the 

trend of events ; while the adults are taking their cue from 

him, keeping always a " sympathetic " attitude toward him, 

rejoicing with him in his successes, praising him for his 

achievements, and lamenting with him in his failures. Such 

adults conceive that the child is happiest and gets the most 

out of life when he plays the leading role all the time, and 

when they follow on behind, aiming to augment his pleasures 

and to diminish his pains by participating in all of them 

with him. 

It seems highly probable that this view of sympathy, and 

the practice of it in home and school, is likely to be the 

, ^ . , cause of some harm in modern education. In the 
LeadersMp 

Is what Is light of all that has gone before, it may here be said 
iome and niore or less dogmatically that what the child needs 
school above all else from his parent and teacher is lead- 

ership. The happy and the fortunate child of any age is 
the one who is much of the time at least in the presence of 
leaders, not followers or flatterers. The child does not crave, 
nor does he need, sentimental sympathy, if one may so speak. 
Observe the persons whom children, old or young, most en- 
joy ; whom they choose as companions. They are always those 
who can show them how to do things, who can help them 
to achieve tasks, and not simply make a demonstration over 
them when they succeed upon their own initiative. Children 
do not enjoy most those who tend to pet them and caress 
them and gush over them ; they prefer those who can per- 
form feats with them and who can teach them new tricks. 
Even the infant appraises doing above fondling, and he 
wiU select as his favorite out of all those in his environment 
the one who can help him best to see and to handle the world 
around him. The young child does not evalute highly affec- 



LEADERSHIP IN HOME AND SCHOOL 291 

tion which expends itself in mere personal expression, no 
matter how ardent or demonstrative it may be. Indeed, he 
is often annoyed by such expressions. Of course, we aU wish 
our associates to appreciate our attainments ; but we care rela- 
tively little for the appreciation of those who lack skill and 
leadership themselves. The boy wants the approval of the 
man who can do things himseK, — who can pitch a curved 
ball, or sprint a half mile in record time, or hit the bull's- 
eye, or do with skill and efficiency anything else in which 
the boy is interested. Children of all ages admire power, 
capacity, skill, courage, leadership, and they will give their 
allegiance to one who possesses these traits. 

The principle applies in the schoolroom as well as outside. 
The pupil is not much influenced by mere sentimentality in 
his teacher. He really does not care for lamentations over 
his misfortunes ; what he wants is to be shown a way to 
avoid them in the future. He may not be the best teacher 
of algebra, say, who feels with and for his pupils most ; 
they are not seeking for personal expression of any sort. 
They are searching for light, and he who can most skill- 
fully turn their eyes toward it is the one who has real 
sympathy for them. True sympathy in a teacher does not 
exhaust itself in feeling; it seeks to help the pupil to 
overcome his difficulties most effectually and economically. 
Again, it does not concern itself too much with the pupil's 
transient emotional states ; rather it studies his problems 
and shows him how to solve them most readily. 

Recently a teacher was observed endeavoring to lead a 
child into a mastery of the art of arts. He had his trials, 
as all pupils have ; but his own estimate of his difficulties 
was augmented by the teacher's "sympathetic" expressions. 
She had little skill in helping the novice over the obstacles 
in his path, and as a consequence of her over-active emotions 
he was losing rather than gaining ground. The pupil had 
no deep affection for his teacher, because she was not aid- 
ing him in a strong way to solve his problems. This teacher 



292 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

should have thought more about acquiring insight and power, 
and less about being sympathetic in a sentimental sense. 
Indeed, such terms as strength, capability, mastery need 
to be made more prominent in present-day educational talk 
and writing ; we have too much emphasized mere feeling 
without skill and leadership. 

The point to be impressed is that at every period of life 
an individual is struggling to achieve things beyond his 
present attainments. Each age has its characteristic ideals ; 
but whatever these may be, the individual is always striving 
forward and upward. And the people who influence him 
deeply, and whom he likes, are those who can help him to 
get what he is after. Sooner or later he will come to de- 
spise those who simply dance to his music, or who are too 
anxious about the state of his feeling. Even if a man is 
outwardly more or less rough and indifferent to our pecul- 
iar experiences, we still attach ourselves to him if he can 
tell us how to surmount our difficulties, and get a firmer 
grip on the world. Even children in school do not have 
high respect for the teacher who permits his feelings to 
make him " easy "; they realize that the man who will do 
them the most good is the one who will hold them up to 
their best efforts. We wish our teachers to strengthen our 
own weak wills, and fortify our resolutions, else we must 
fall by the wayside. Our teachers must keep their eyes on 
the goal to be attained rather than on us, taking undue 
account of our every mood. A surgeon who would listen to 
his patient's tales of woe, and whose feelings would be 
much influenced thereby, would not be of great service in 
alleviating human misery. He must rather keep in view the 
end to be achieved, and move steadily toward it in the most 
effective manner. The principle applies as well to the teacher 
and to the parent. 

What has been said is not to be interpreted as excluding 
feeling from the schoolroom ; far from it. But feeling must 
be subordinated to insight and power and leadership. Given 



RESUME 293 

these latter qualities in the teacher, there will be little dan- 
ger that sentiment will become too active; but lacking 
these qualities, an excess of emotion will do more harm than 
good in the social training of the child. 

Most adults are inclined to interpret the expressions of infants in the 
light of their own experience, which usually results more or less disas- 
trously in the social training of the individual. The child is 
an expert in the art of teasing. The cry in infancy is mostly 
reflex ; it is a rudimentary trait, lasting over from the time when the 
struggle for physical survival was the dominant thing in life. In mod- 
ern society the child's demonstrations tend normally to produce reac- 
tions on the part of adults out of all proportion to their importance. 

The bullying tendency, inborn in the child, is preserved and ex- 
tended by letting him always " have his own way." The child should, 
for his own welfare as well as for that of his associates, learn early to 
restrain his desires, and be satisfied with a portion of all the varied 
objects in his environment. Ill-trained children in modern life endeavor 
to respond to too many sorts and too great a complexity of stimula- 
tions; consequently they are, as a rule, in a condition of nervous over- 
strain. 

Children differ in their persistency in practicing the art of coercion 
of those in authority over them. This is due in part to a difference in 
native aggressiveness, and in part to a difference in training. 

Because of his winsomeness, adults in modern society are apt to yield 
readily to the child's coercions. This but encourages him in his non- 
social attitudes. A child's social and ethical attitudes should from the 
beginning be encouraged in every way; while his anti-social, and there- 
fore undesirable, traits should be effectually resented, so that he may 
acquire the data for properly appraising different kinds of actions. Not 
the direct prohibition of wrong conduct, but the stimulation of social 
action is the really vital method of training. Right attitudes must be 
made attractive; this is the first law in social education. 

The unsympathetic, mechanical, resoureeless governess is an uninspir- 
ing taskmaster, and she is likely to develop in her children resistance 
to rather than observance of social regulations. On the other hand, the 
governess v?ho goes to extremes in kindness is apt to cultivate in her 
charges the native tendency to bully. Effective social education cannot 
be secured unless the trainer takes account of the attitudes of his chil- 
dren in maturity rather than at the moment. Further, he must have 
final authority to deal with those whom he trains, so as to develop in 
them respect for and ready compliance with law. The entire social en- 
vironment must interpret the social law in any situation in the same 
way, or the child will not gain the idea of its rightfulness and inevi- 



294 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

tableness; which idea is absolutely essential for right social develop- 
ment. 

Adults may plan a course of social action for the child, but in order 
really to possess himself of it he must work it out dynamically in ad- 
justment to his comrades and those in authority. The only justification 
for obedience, and the only consideration which makes lessons in obe- 
dience effective, is its necessity for the accomplishment of work at 
home or at school. Obedience for its own sake is hard to develop in 
children. 

The home is an effective educational agency in only a limited way, 
since the environments thereof are not generally suited to beget a 
docile attitude on the part of children. A certain amount of formality 
and ceremony is necessary in school in order properly to impress pupils. 
The school should be like the home in that it should respect the indi- 
vidual child's nature and needs; but it should nevertheless be of such 
a character as to induce in its children a learning, assimilative attitude 
toward all its activities. 

Modern educational thought is permeated with expressions of ten- 
derness toward child-life. As a result of the labor of such teachers as 
Froebel, Dickens, Montaigne, Locke, Rousseau, Spencer, and others, 
the period of childhood is no longer considered to be a preparation for 
life, but a part of life. " Sympathy " has become the dominant word 
in present-day educational expression. But sympathy for children should 
not mean sharing their joys and sorrows so much as helping them to 
develop soundly. The child needs, above everything else, leadership in 
his parents and teachers. True sympathy seeks to help the pupil to 
overcome his difficulties, whatever they may be, most effectually and 
economically. 



CHAPTER XIII 
COOPERATION IN GROUP EDUCATION 

In a preceding chapter it was urged that social lessons can 
be learned effectively only when the learner has varied ex- 
perience in the typical social situations of daily Children's 
life, from which the inference was drawn that the cipUne in 
first concern of the parent or the educator must Regroup 
be so to arrange his programme that his pupils may be 
brought into vital contact with one another under educative 
influences^ the full implications of which will be indicated 
as we go on in our discussion. In this chapter attention 
may be called to the ways in which children in their group 
activities train themselves in respect to certain desirable 
social attitudes, without control from outside agencies. And 
to introduce the matter with a concrete instance, typical in 
essential features of a vast number that might be cited : 
Recently five children were observed playing together in 
jumping on a spring-board. Only one could jump at a time. 
At the start each seemed to play without much regard for 
the interests of the others, jumping whenever he could get 
the chance, whether it was his due or not. His desire, of 
course, was to have as much fun as possible, and he was so 
dominated by this aim that he could not take account of 
the desires of any one else. Needless to say, perhaps, there 
was much conflict between the members of the group. But 
after a few minutes of this sort of thing it dawned upon 
H., the oldest of the group, that the game was not going for- 
ward in a happy way, and she conceived the plan of hav- 
ing each one " take his turn." She ordered that those who 
were awaiting their turns should remain within a circle 
which she drew upon the ground, so that there might be 
no chance of any one annoying the person who was per- 



296 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

forming. At first the younger members of the group re- 
sisted her authority; but when reason failed to bring them 
to time, she seized two of the children who were particu- 
larly rebellious, and in a forceful, effective manner laid down 
the law to them, and made them realize that if they were to 
play at all they must obey it. They yielded to her finally, 
even though they found it very difficult to inhibit the ten- 
dency to run out of turn. For thirty minutes H. held the 
group to strict observance of the rules. When some mem- 
ber's eagerness would get the better of him and he would 
break out of the circle, she would order him back with vigor, 
and he would comply without a protest. They were all made 
vividly aware of the fact that if they did not conform to 
the rules they would be deprived of the privileges which 
they now enjoyed. It appeared that they appreciated their 
leader would be just with them, but she would not tolerate 
unfair play. It appeared also that they were much happier 
under this arrangement than under the original order of 
chaos, when disappointments and conflicts were constantly 
occurring. 

It is of special importance to note that the players fol- 
lowed H.'s directions more readily than those of an adult, 
an onlooker, who was not a member of the group, but who 
after a time volunteered to aid the little general in control- 
ling her charges. On most other occasions the suggestions 
offered by this adult would at once be responded to agree- 
ably. But in this crucial situation he seemed to be, in a 
way, foreign to the group ; he was not assisting materially 
in carrying on the game, so far as the players could see. 
He was, in short, an outsider. He was not evidently essen- 
tial to the prosperity of the present absorbing enterprise, 
while H. was, and if her commands were not obeyed, mat- 
ters would turn out badly for all ; this the players appeared 
to feel. H. was, then, one to look up to at this time, because 
she held the key to the pleasures of the group. Her vigorous 
manner soon impressed her followers with the necessity of 



CHILDREN'S SELF-DISCIPLINE 297 

deferring to her, for she would punish non-conformity ; but 
an outsider could only exhort ; he could not enforce his 
suggestions. The impulse to foUow the leader, the one who 
can advance the interests of the group, or at least who can 
inflict pain upon aU dissenters, seems to be a profound 
tendency of human nature, and it manifests itself early in 
children. 

And when leadership is once established, there is no 
longer active resistance from members of the group. Easily 
and gladly they adapt themselves to the inevitable, as it 
seems to them ; and their efforts will then be devoted to 
doing as fully as possible what the leader desires. Each 
member of a group wishes to stand well in the eyes of one 
who plays so large a part in determining his welfare, and 
children vie with one another in doing what under other 
circumstances would be quite distasteful to them. Children 
not only wish to ingratiate themselves with their leader, but 
they are ready also in detecting shortcomings in their fel- 
lows and representing them to the leader, probably feeling 
in an indefinite sort of way that their own interests will be 
promoted thereby. In such group activities as described 
above, individuals are prone to " tattle " on one another, 
always registering their complaints with the one who has it 
in his power to reward or to punish. Often this impulse seeks 
expression in school and other groups, but it is in time 
suppressed by the group itself. The child who " tattles " on 
any member of the group will be persona non grata with 
the whole body. The group will stand together against one 
who " peaches " on a wrong-doer, even if it is well known 
that the latter deserves penalization. No matter what dis- 
sensions may exist within the group, they must always pre- 
sent a solid front to the enemy. 

As a general proposition, adults are regarded by the 
group in childhood and in adolescence as outsiders, though 
there are exceptions to be noted presently. It may be 
observed that when an adult organizes a game for children 



298 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

they seem often to be in a suspicious or defensive attitude 

toward him. They usually want to do something; 
The adult ^ ^ o 

as an out- different. Parents, teachers, governesses, and all 

^^^" who bear the relation of trainers to children are 

apt to be considered by them as wishing to impose upon 
the group activities in which the members are not greatly 
interested. It is probable that older people as a rule counsel 
children to engage in " improving " exercises, and these 
require restraint and exertion, which are not required in 
activities of their own choosing. Teachers especially are 
looked upon with much doubt in their attempts to guide 
the spontaneous life of the group. So much of what they 
demand in the schoolroom is of the nature of drudgery 
that they come to represent this sort of thing in children's 
reaction upon them. The same is true of many parents; 
and ministers as a class are usually suspected of wishing to 
prevent the carrying forward of the enterprises in which 
the group is most interested. These attitudes are more 
strongly marked in adolescence than in childhood, and 
among boys than among girls. High-school groups are 
often unduly restrained, and they may even be completely 
broken up when a teacher, seeking to be of service, at- 
tempts to play games with them. In situations of tliis sort 
the members of the group feel ill at ease ; the attitudes of 
the classroom are more or less subconsciously revived when- 
ever the instructor is present, so that free, spontaneous 
expression cannot occur. The same principle holds in col- 
lege groups, at least among undergraduates. 

But there are exceptions, and many more of them to-day 
than one could have found a quarter of a century ago in 
The teacher the schools and colleges of our country. There is 
be/o?t^' ^ growing feeling that teachers in every grade of 
group school ought to cultivate, to some extent at any 

rate, good-fellowship with their students ; they ought to 
play with them as well as work with them. Formerly the 
teacher was jealous of his dignity, and he always felt he 



COMRADESHIP WITH THE TEACHER 299 

should be a model of the formal virtues. This made him 
more or less stiff and forbidding in the presence of the 
young. In the school he condemned most of the spontaneous 
activities of his pupils, and he carried his frigid manners 
with him wherever he went. Consequently, his presence 
sent a chill through the young, whether he was encoun- 
tered in the classroom or outside. But as the teacher has 
increased in genuine strength, as he has gained in power 
to instruct without repressing aU spontaneity in his pupils, 
he has just in this measure abandoned his formal attitudes, 
and become more genuine and spontaneous himself. In 
many instances coming within the observation of the writer 
(who, it may be added, has for a number of years in- 
spected the work of schools in various parts of the country) 
instructors have preserved their youthful interests and 
freedom of expression to such an extent that on the play- 
ground they are regarded for the moment simply as one of 
the gToup, and the play goes on without artificial restraint. 
The introduction into secondary schools of instructors who 
are charged with directing the athletic activities of stu- 
dents has aided in bridging the chasm between the teacher 
and the pupil. It has brought both parties nearer together 
in their spontaneous interests and attitudes. 

As for college groups, the development of the great uni- 
versities in our country has resulted in depriving the 
instructor of some of his artificial dignity. Speaking gen- 
erally, he does not longer feel that he must pose as a model 
of the static virtues. The typical college professor of an 
earlier day thought it necessary to appear in the eyes of 
the community as devoted only to the very serious and 
sedate and formal concerns of life. In his speech, his dress, 
his manners, his general attitudes, he represented the an- 
tithesis of youthful interests. He was wont to speak of the 
follies of youth, and sometimes he considered himself an 
agent in the hands of an avenging Providence to suppress 
whatever activities his students were most pleased with. 



300 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

Such professors took it for granted that students would 
rarely of their own accord do what was desired of them ; 
and in consequence faculties were regarded as the natural 
enemies of students in their spontaneous enterprises. Rarely 
did the student body seek the company of the faculty in 
their play activities ; but instead they got away as far as 
they could from their influence. But there seems to be 
greater comradeship between the two bodies in our day in 
the universities, though much of the old antagonism can 
still be found in some of the smaller colleges. Antagonism 
also exists between the student body and a good part of ^ 

the faculty body in the universities, but the new generation f 

of university instructors is standing less upon the mere 
formal dignity of the traditional college professor. 

In popular phraseology, teachers are " becoming more 
human." They are gaining greater confidence in the worth 
of the native tendencies and impulses of young people. 
They care more than they did of old for natural, unconven- 
tional, youthful expression ; and they are becoming inter- 
ested in the young, not so much for the purpose of " bene- 
fiting " them as of enjoying their naivete and spontaneity. 
This, then, makes them more acceptable in youthful groups, 
and they are less suspected in their intentions when they 
show an interest. The same is true in a measure of parents, 
though probably not to the same extent as of teachers. 

In an older day a child stood in awe of his father es- 
pecially, who was mainly a disciplinarian, rarely a com- 
ConfUct panion. In the community where the writer was 
father'' reared, it is still the custom for fathers to be dis- 
andson tant toward their children in most of their spon- 
taneous undertakings. The elders fear, apparently, that they 
will lose their control if they relax their austerity. As the 
sons grow into adolescence, they often become antagonistic 
to their father's domineering authority, and they separate 
themselves in their spontaneous life altogether from the 
parental roof. They do not expect their elders to share with 



RELATIONS BETWEEN FATHER AND SON 301 

them in their general interests, and strain and tension result. 
Father and son live in different worlds ; the former is apt 
to think that the latter is frivolous and unappreciative in 
his behavior, while the boy thinks the " old man " is tyran- 
nical and even brutal. 

No comradeship can exist under these conditions, but 
rather mutual distrust and antipathy prevail. This unhappy 
state of affairs has been due in part, no doubt, to economic 
strain. A father who is overworked is not likely to be toler- 
ant of the boisterousness and apparent carelessness and in- 
difference of his son. Having little leisure himself, and not 
being relieved at all from the consciousness of need of strug- 
gle, he is unable to sympathize with the care-free interests of 
his boy. He is apt to be constantly in a critical, fault-finding 
mood, until the son comes to expect nothing else from him, 
and so he escapes from his presence whenever possible. He 
would mistrust his father's motives if the latter offered to 
engage in any of his games, or to join with him in his spon- 
taneous activities. In homes of this character, the son is 
usually restrained and " unnatural" when the father is about, 
while he may be free and effective when he is with his fellows. 
As a rule, boys reared under such a regime are ill at ease 
in the company of adults, and they avoid them. They form 
their groups ; and in such groups there is often a spirit of 
defiance of the " old men " of the community, — not mere 
verbal antagonism, but a deep feeling of hostility. For 
economic reasons they may work together, but there is no 
true social bond between them. 

But matters are improving in this respect. For one thing, 
as men are being freed in some measure from the hard strug- 
gle for physical survival, they are taking a larger interest 
in those activities which are dominant in youth. Children 
to-day wish to have their parents share with them in their 
experiences more than they did of old in Puritan times, so 
that there is passing from among us the sort of antagonism 
between the younger and the maturer elements of the com- 



302 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

munity that is depicted in such books as Graham's The 

Golden Age, MacLaren's The Barbarians, and many others 

of the same general character. 

Among adults individuals are organized into groups for 

various purposes, — social, political, religious, philanthropic, 

„, ., . charitable, educational, scientific, industrial, com- 
Tne iirst ^ ' ' 

lonnof mercial, professional, literary, and the like. The 
tivity In aim in these organizations — in aU but the purely 
oiimhood social — is to enable the individual to share in the 
valuable experiences of the different members of the group, 
or to combine the wisdom and strength of many in competi- 
tion with other individuals or groups. In some cases, as in 
debating societies and whist clubs, the groups separate into 
sections which in make-believe contest with one another ; 
though on occasion they may compete seriously for gain. 
People organize for the purpose of play as of work ; but in 
their play they usually simulate the competitive activities of 
the strenuous life. Now, group organization in childhood 
has for its sole purpose the promoting of play activities. In 
the very beginning the mother or father and the child con- 
stitute a group, and engage in the simplest games, as " peek- 
a-boo," " roU-the-ball," and the like. It may occur to some 
reader that during even the first hours of life the child and 
the mother enter into group relations, since the former 
receives his food from the latter. But this is not, as we are 
here viewing the matter, a group relation, since the indi- 
viduals do not play each an independent role in give-and- 
take activities, as they do in all games. For the first few 
weeks the child seems still a part of the mother, not a dis- 
tinct individual. But group organization implies that the 
several members possess distinct individualities, and each 
can play a part with the others in the group. The members 
of any true group, as we shall use the term, are related to 
one another in a dynamic, cooperative, and not in a wholly 
dependent way, as the child is related to his mother. Unless 
each member can contribute something toward attainino- the 



GROUP CONSCIOUSNESS 303 

ends for which a true group exists, he will soon be ignored, 
driven out, or destroyed. This is shown most strikingly in 
industrial groups, even among the lower orders of life, as 
the bees and the ants, for example, and the principle seems 
to apply to all true group organizations, whether in human 
or in animal societies. This does not mean that every mem- 
ber of a group must be able to play the role of leader or 
guide in some particular ; it is enough often that one member 
should furnish opportunity for practice by the other mem- 
bers, or serve as auditor or critic. But he must assist the 
group as a whole in some capacity, or else he will not be 
counted as of the group. 

It was said above that the child first enters into group 
relations with his mother when he plays his little games 
with her. She pretends that she gets pleasure from The devei- 
his action, as indeed she does, though not in just ^^p^cg^- 
the way that she pretends. She makes believe sciousness 
that he can play at peek-a-boo as well as she ; she gets 
caught as often as he does, and in her expressions she leads 
him to feel that he is skillful at the game, that he is an effi- 
cient cause of events, that he is master of a situation. Thus 
the effort is made to give him individual importance, to 
avoid awakening the feeling of inferiority or dependence, 
— that he is incapable of playing a part, or of adding any- 
thing to the entertainment or advancement of others in the 
group. In most of the relations of parents with their chil- 
dren, until the latter are well on in adolescence, there is this 
make-believe of equality in ability and mutual serviceable- 
ness. Sometimes, it is true, the child assumes the attitude 
of the learner, when he will seek aid from some elder who 
can assist him ; but the activity is apt to take on the char- 
acter of work instead of play. But in a situation of this 
sort, the learner and the teacher generally have more or less 
consciously in view some future occasion when there will be 
real equality, when the former will have acquired the ability 
of the latter, and thus be able to hold his own with him. 



304 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

In his primitive group activities in play the child cannot 
and does not attempt to enter into relation with more than 
one playfellow at a time. He lacks the ability of a member 
of a baseball or football team, for example, to adjust him- 
self to a number of others constituting a true group. Again, 
the young child has no sense of the group unity of a number 
of persons who are prospered or injured as a unit. One can- 
not imagine a child of two, say, sacrificing his own interests 
in any way for the welfare of the group, as a member of a 
football or baseball team wiU do. To a very limited extent 
he may voluntarily yield some pleasure for the benefit of a 
particular member of the group, but the group as a unity 
does not appeal to him. This is, without question, one of 
the principal objects to be attained in the child's social evo- 
lution through his group activities, — to develop in him the 
consciousness of the oneness of the group in its interests, 
and to cause him to be governed in his action by its effect 
upon the group as a unity. He does not learn this lesson 
without some strain and stress. It is not his nature to sac- 
rifice for the group. A boy of five normally shows a strong 
tendency to be " it " whenever he can, and to get the applause 
of the bystanders for his individual performance, no matter 
what may happen to the group of which he is a member. 

He shows this tendency in all his social adjustments. He 
wiU not readily sacrifice for his family, as a group, nor does 
How the he consider their collective well-being, their good 
group unity ^^^^^^ ^^^-> ^^ ^^^ conduct, though he may hesitate 
Is acciuired to offend his father or his mother as individuals. 
But as the child develops, his growing powers make it pos- 
sible for him to come into ever more complex relations with 
people, and with larger and larger groups working toward 
certain ends in common ; and the reaction of these groups 
upon his conduct tends in all cases to impress upon him 
the notion that the group will stand or fall as a unity, and 
he must govern himself accordingly. His " side " in a con- 
test is eager to win, let us say, and he plays in a way to 



OPPORTUNITY FOR PLAY 305 

please himself, but to weaken the team. Then observe the 
captain discipline him, and all his fellows upbraid him ; he 
ought " to have kept his place," " to have done what fie was 
told," etc., etc. Constantly, day in and day out, the group 
moulds him into shape, compelling him to play his part 
with reference to the whole, the team, or forfeit his right 
to play at all. So gradually the consciousness of group unity 
is established in him, and in the end this normally dom- 
inates his thinking and his action, though there are cer- 
tainly a large proportion of individuals in any community 
who never entirely complete this developmental process. 

The first requisite for the development of this fealty to 
the group is opportunity for play ; play in which two indi- 
viduals only are concerned at first, but in which opportunity 
the group enlarges as growth proceeds. All young cMe^/re-*^* 
creatures play in preparation for the serious work auirement 
of life ; but the human child is jpar excellence the playing 
animal. For one thing, he has a much longer term for play 
than the colt or the kitten or the puppy ; and normally he 
seeks to spend his time in play during the whole of the 
developmental period. Modern students of mental develop- 
ment agree that through his play the child develops both 
body and mind in an effective way. And he will attend to 
the matter himself, too, if we but give him a fair chance. 
His passion for play is the deepest of all his instincts, and 
it will manifest itself in the face of the most serious ob- 
stacles. Let one study child-life in the crowded streets of 
a great city, — Clark Street in Chicago, for instance, — 
and he will see what tremendous hazards the young take, 
and ordeals they undergo, that they may indulge this pas- 
sion. But urban civilization deals harshly with the child in 
this respect ; it deprives him of the opportunities for free 
play. Indeed, the city often schemes to prevent the child 
from playing, for when he does play he obstructs the pub- 
lic highways and interferes with the pleasures of adults, 
for whose interests alone the larger part of the city exists. 



306 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

Any one who has not done so may learn a useful lesson re- 
lating to this subject if he wiU spend a month in the police 
courts of any large city, where juvenile offenders are dealt 
with. He will see enacted here one scene in the tragedy of 
the child with his play impulses attempting to adjust him- 
self to an environment ill suited to his needs, and he will 
not fail to appreciate that herein lies one of the most urgent 
and perplexing problems of modern civilization. 

In this connection we may profit, if we will, by the expe^ 
rience of the Old World. It is generally recognized, as we 
A lesson have intimated in a preceding chapter, that cer- 
p"an oWii- ^^^^ European peoples, once leaders in the world's 
izaUon progress, have already entered upon their period 
of decline. Take Italy, for example. The moment one comes 
in contact with the present order of things in this unhappy 
country he is made conscious of the physical and moral dis- 
integration of a large part of the people, which is every- 
where so apparent. Italy, and particularly the Neapolitan 
section, is a great laboratory for the study of degeneracy. 
Many of the investigations along this line have been made 
by Italian scientists, such as Mosso, Lombroso, and others. 
Of course, many factors have contributed to bring about 
the present deplorable state of affairs in this land, but it 
is probable that the factor which has been most largely 
responsible for Italian decline has been the neglect of con- 
ditions essential to the proper training of the young. The 
streets of Naples, Rome, Florence, Genoa, and Venice are 
swarming with children from the ages of six months to 
fifteen years, who have no place but the streets in which to 
play, and in consequence thereof they are in a hostile atti- 
tude toward law and order much of the time. Under such 
circumstances it is inevitable that they should develop anti- 
social tendencies. As one studies the situation in Naples, 
say, he is reminded strongly of the law of life in the forest, 
which is, eat or be eaten. The moment children come on 
to the streets in these Italian cities they are apt to begin 



A LESSON FROM EUROPE 307 

taking lessons in crime, in preying upon every one as every 
one preys upon them. 

When the young are plunged early into such a situation 
as is found in these Italian cities, they soon reveal the signs 
of over-stimulation, which is disastrous to right social or 
any other kind of development. Italian children before the 
age of four or five are apparently exceptionally attractive 
and intelligent, suggesting that their ancestors some genera- 
tions back were far from degenerates. But it does not take 
many years of street influences to work ruin in the bodies, 
minds, and morals of the young. A Neapolitan boy is mature 
at an age when any well-brought-up American boy is in the 
middle of his school career, and still plastic in mind and 
body. This early maturing of youth will, as we have already 
suggested, prove of disadvantage to any people if they are 
brought into competition with a nation whose children re- 
main docile and educable for a longer period. A child does 
not have time by the age of fifteen, say, to get his primitive 
impulses thoroughly under the control of social and moral 
ideals. To get set early means, among other things, that 
one cannot assimilate the later and more subtle products of 
social evolution. As a matter of fact, Italian culture would 
probably soon be lost to the world if it were not for the in- 
terest of outside nations. The rising generation of Italians 
do not appear to appropriate this culture fully, and it is 
probable that they could not on their own initiative preserve, 
much less transmit, it to succeeding generations. Italy's 
past lives not so much in the minds and conduct of the 
present generation of its own people as in its galleries and 
museums. 

As one studies Old- World civilization in general, he 
reaches the conclusion that no nation has yet discovered 
how to preserve continuously the physical and The chief 
moral vigor of the people under conditions of ag^nstthe 
urban life. The human body and mind were city 
evolved in close contact with nature, and the evidence 



308 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

seems conclusive that they will not develop completely iil 
the individual under the restraints and irritations of the 
city as it has been constructed in the past, and as it is be-^ 
ing constructed in the present, even in our new country. 
The chief count against the city is that it does not provide 
proper conditions for either the physical, intellectual, or 
social development of the rising generations, so that each 
may preserve what the race has accomplished before it, and 
make additions thereto. The schools are unable to transmit 
this culture adequately under the disadvantages of urban 
civilization. The school, as it has been planned so largely in 
the cities of the Old and the New World alike, represents 
an adult's view of what would be suitable for him if he 
had as an adult to learn to live. He thinks he would wish 
to sit indoors and absorb the contents of books containing 
the wisdom of the ages. So he builds his schools in busy 
thoroughfares, and makes no provision for free play. As 
indicated above, he equips his schools in a way which makes 
it impossible for a child to do much else than to memorize 
words in his text-books. He cannot be dynamic to a great 
extent in his school; he must remain largely static, and 
mechanically learn formal knowledge. If we of the New 
World cannot build cities so that the needs of immature as 
well as of mature creatures shall be provided for, it seems 
probable that we will go the way other civilizations have 
gone and are now going. 

We ought to profit by the experiments which older civil- 
izations have made in building cities for adults and neglect- 
ing the oncoming generations. We have before us 
The need '^ ^ ° 

oi play- still for the most part the problem of city-building 
groun s .^ ^j^^ western two thirds of our country, and we 
can easily accomplish what is demanded if we only think it 
worth while. In the new cities we are planning we need to 
preserve generous free spaces where the young may keep in 
close contact with natural conditions, and especially where 
they may play together freely without violating the law. 



THE NEED OF PLAYGROUNDS 309 

There should be a playground in the vicinity of every public 
school, and it should be in charge of a playmaster who knows 
children and the games that wiU interest them. Under his 
direction the playground may be made of immense impor- 
tance in social development. Children who play much in 
wholesome ways learn, so they will never forget it, that 
every game has its rules and regulations which all must 
observe. So has the great game of life ; but this latter game 
is altogether too complex for the child to enter at the outset, 
making it necessary that we begin with him in a simple way, 
and pass on steadily to situations more and more intricate. 
In this manner he wiU be led in time to realize that the 
game can go on only when every one plays fair ; and matters 
will terminate best for all when good-will and cooperation 
prevail. As we have seen, the child does not readily learn 
this lesson, because his instincts act in opposition to it. 
But by a long process of vital training in playing games 
within his sphere of development at any period, he can be 
greatly helped to appreciate that social law is very real and 
binding, and in the long run it will pay to observe its rules 
strictly. We are trying to teach these lessons in the school, 
in literature, in history, in ethics, and in other subjects ; 
but the playground furnishes an excellent opportunity to 
make the lessons genuinely effective. 

It is frequently remarked that the street gamin is brighter 
in certain ways and more capable than is the child in the 
school. The former doubtless receives a training which is 
more effective than that received by the latter in developing 
readiness in action and self-reliance. Unhappily, though, 
the child of the street rarely progresses beyond a low point 
of development, because the environment in which he lives 
is not planned for his advancement. Little thought is taken 
of him, except to repress him. But on the well-conducted 
playground there is continual progression in the child's ac- 
tivities. He is constantly brought into more and more com- 
plex situations, and compelled to adjust himself to them. 



310 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

The expert supervisor understands how to adapt plays and 
games to the needs and capacities of children from the ear- 
liest years on to maturity, and he keeps a pupil moving for- 
ward steadily, until he gives him experience in the most 
complex games, which call into play social powers much as 
they will be exercised in the serious situations of adult life. 
When children have these social experiences on the play- 
ground, they are the more ready to understand and appre- 
ciate what the school offers in the way of social instruction. 
Every lesson can be made pointed, direct, practical, because 
the teacher can assist the child to see its bearing upon the 
situations in which he is daily placed. And what is of chief 
importance, the teacher can get his lessons worked out into 
practice, at least partially, where now he must often simply 
theorize, and so leave his teaching mostly in the air. 

We are told to-day that the physical and mental are in- 
separably joined together, and if the one is defective the 
other will suffer through sympathy. Now it ap- 
mind In a pears to be impossible to develop the child phy- 
soun y g-gg^jjy jjj ^j^j ^^j ^q effectively as through active 

play. Formal gymnastics can accomplish relatively little. 
The child must have some end to attain that arouses his 
enthusiasm, and that demands agility and strength and en- 
durance ; and then his whole bodily mechanism will work 
together in harmony to achieve this end. And this is what 
physical training seeks to accomplish, — to make the body 
a fit instrument for the mind. Students of the subject have 
analyzed many plays and games which appeal to children, 
and they have pointed out that in some of them nearly every 
important muscle and vital function is brought into action, 
and exercised in a thorough and beneficial manner. No sys- 
tem of formal training ever has been or probably ever can 
be elaborated that will do for the child what he will do for 
himself spontaneously, if he only be given opportunity and 
a little guidance. Let him have some place where he may 
not only play games freely without fear of the police, but 



A SOUND MIND IN A SOUND BODY 311 

where he may run and jump and climb and swing and work 
in sand and throw stones and wrestle, and the like, and he 
will not fail to make the most out of the body nature has 
given him, as a housing for a sound and efficient mind. 

Finally, even if playgrounds were of no positive value in 
any other direction, they would still be of estimable service 
in keeping children out of crime, and lessening ex- piay- 
pense for police, courts, reformatories, hospitals, ^°^^^ 
and prisons, a point which was strongly empha- crime 
sized in the Report of 1897 of the Committee on Small 
Parks in New York. The report says, among other things : 

With a common accord the precinct captains attribute the 
existence of juvenile rowdyism and turbulence to the lack of a 
better playground than the street. . . . Cbildren use the middle 
of the street, and a great many accidents are caused thereby. 
They break lamps and windows, because they have no other pro- 
vision made for them. London, after an experience of forty years 
battling with the slums, says tersely : " Crime in our large cities 
is to a great extent simply a question of athletics." 

If a boy's energies are not used up in wholesome activity, 
they will surely find expression in illegitimate conduct. 
The boy will prey upon the institutions which prevent him 
from living a natural life. We all know something of the 
scene on a typical city thoroughfare, described in the Re- 
port to which reference has been made, where " traffic," 
playing children, and pedestrians are all mingled in the 
streets, each one interfering with the other. 

We often hear their quarrels and frictions in the streets. The 
playing children lead all the rest in creating this confusion. 
They obstruct the way of the car driver and the motorman in 
almost every block. The grocer and the shopkeeper are con- 
stantly annoyed by them, while the more hardened among them 
are always ready to insult the old and the unfortunate, and to 
take part in any sort of mischief. But the greatest sufferers from 
the children on the streets are undoubtedly the policemen. In 
some sections their heaviest duty all day long is to chase the 
children with their games from one corner and street to another, 



312 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

in a vain attempt to keep them from breaking windows, hurt- 
ing passengers, committing nuisances, and breeding tumult and 
disorder. 

The Secretary of the Philadelphia Culture Extension 
League, which has done much in the establishment of 
Thetesti- playgrounds, speaking of the institution in his 
Bi^^ round ^^^y^ ^^y^ *^^* " *^^ hoys especially crowd the 
experts corners and tramp the street like organized bands 
of idlers, cultivating the disposition and imitating the 
loafers on the streets in mischief, profanity, vice, and 
crime, and often fiercely arm themselves against any oppo- 
sition. ' The greatest enemy to the police is the boy,' said 
a high Philadelphia official recently. ' Go to the store- 
keeper, to the shopkeeper, to the housekeeper, and you 
will hear the same story. The boys steal, break windows, 
insult, afflict, upset one thing and another, and would do 
most anything they hear or see in order to satisfy that 
burning instinct for play.' These beginnings of vice and 
crime were the only outlets they have had for the powers 
with which nature has endowed them. These practices 
were their only or chief amusement, and thus happiness to 
them became synonymous with vice and fiendish delight in 
evil doing." 

But in studying the life on the playgrounds he sees that 
they lay the foundations for " strong, manly, bright, and 
happy lives, rescued from the evil habits and tendencies 
that produce misery and wretchedness. Through their play 
in this manner the young are taught how to live together, 
how to respect each other's rights, how to be kind, gentle, 
pure, in language as well as in conduct. The boy's mouth 
is not defiled by tobacco, liquor, or profane language. ,The 
disrespectful and vulgar treatment which young boys and 
girls inflict upon each other in the street is done away 
with. The playground influences are carried into the home, 
where the younger brothers and sisters treat each other 
differently from the way they otherwise would ; or, to put it 



THE PLAYGROUND AND DISCIPLINE 313 

the other way, the influences of the home, of the school, 
and of the church are thus extended outside over the whole 
life of the child." 

Speaking of the playground in Chicago conducted under 
the auspices of the University Settlement of Northwestern 
University, the lieutenant in charge of the police in that 
precinct says that "not less than fifteen lives have been 
saved from the electric car since the establishment of the 
playground, and juvenile arrests have decreased fully 33^ 
per cent. The young boys between thirteen and sixteen who 
are not at work loaf around street corners ; they have no 
place to go ; they go into saloons, and they annoy the 
passers-by, or they form in crowds. They resent the inter- 
ference of the police, and finally they are arrested. We hate 
to do this, as it is the first step in pushing a boy downward 
into the criminal class. Since the playground has been 
opened and they are permitted to come in here, they give 
us no trouble whatever." 

Recently a prominent principal of a high-class gram- 
mar school asked the present writer's advice regarding the 
method of treating a situation which is typical Thepiay- 
of the sort of thing teachers must deal with fre- f"d'^chooi 
quently. The boys in this particular school, in im- discipline 
itatioil of more mature students, had taken to "hazing" 
one another for recreation and amusement. Unhappily the 
older and stronger ones were inclined to select as their 
victims those younger and weaker than themselves. Nat- 
urally complaints came to the teachers from angry parents 
and abused pupils. The principal had strictly forbidden all 
pastimes of this kind, but the trouble did not cease, for it 
was practically impossible to tell in special cases just what 
was intended for "hazing" as contrasted with good-humored 
play. When boys would be charged with undue roughness 
they would declare themselves innocent of any bad motives, 
and nothing could really be proved against them. On the 
playground where boys must devise their own diversions 



314 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

wholly, the line between good-natured play and deliberate 
harshness is often very indefinite and difficult to deter- 
mine, as one who must adjust the difficulties between boys 
well knows. 

Now let us go to make a little study of this hazing prob- 
lem. The school building is situated directly on the street, 
— a very busy and noisy one. The space for play is entirely 
inadequate ; the pupils must use the street mainly. But the 
street, being utilized so largely by pedestrians and vehicles, 
imposes great obstacles to play. The children are kept 
huddled together, and personal encounters are practically 
unavoidable. Then there are in the school many boys who 
live on the street when they are home, and their principal 
occupation consists in badgering one another. The street, as 
we have seen, develops a disposition in boys to bully and to 
tease ; in any city in the world, observe a busy street where 
boys congregate, and the truth of this will be apparent. 
Boys left to themselves, to find amusement as best they can 
under the restrictions and irritations of urban life, are prac- 
tically certain to bully each other, and quarrel and fight a 
good deal ; what is primitive in them flourishes under such 
conditions. 

So the boys in this school, having no opportunity for 
organized plays and games during their intermissions, give 
vent to their bullying and combative tendencies in one form 
or another. And it is boy nature to annoy any peculiar 
fellow-pupil, — peculiar in respect to clothes or manners or 
anything else. If one boy looks more " stuck-up " than the 
majority of the group, or even lives in a different part of 
the town, which may give presumption of aristocratic feel- 
ing, it is sufficient excuse to " pick on him," and to intimi- 
date him in divers ways. Boys cannot tolerate traits or 
conditions different from those of the gang, and they are 
absolutely indifferent as to whether these traits are good or 
bad, as adults think of them. And it accomplishes little of 
permanent value to " lecture " boys about their rude con- 



RIVALRY IN GROUP ACTIVITY 315 

duct, or to threaten them, unless one can suggest a prac- 
ticable way in which their energies may be legitimately 
expended. It is highly probable the}'^ will be active in some 
direction anyway, and mere prohibition will restrain only 
temporarily, at best. Often this method simply aggravates 
the disease which it is designed to cure. It keeps the for- 
bidden thing before the mind of the offender ; and, of course, 
the more he thinks of it the firmer hold it gets on his 
impulses, and the less likely he is to resist it. 

A principal can hardly expect to solve problems of play- 
ground misconduct unless he can organize his pupils and 
give them some definite thing to do. Arnold of Rugby 
transformed the great English schools for boys by develop- 
ing an organized system of self-government, in which fag- 
ging is an element, in place of lawless hazing and bullying, 
which were so prominent in these schools before his day. 
Now everything of this sort is under rules and regulations 
administered by the boys themselves, and the hazing disease 
has been cured. Study the activities on any playground 
where there is a director who always has games for the boys 
to play when they cannot readily develop them for them- 
selves, and you will rarely find mean and lawless conduct. 
The watchwords of the teacher must be, at all times, organ- 
ization and substitution. Bad conduct can be effectually 
cured only by using the individual's energies in wholesome 
ways. 

A word should be said at this point respecting a powerful 

stimulus to activity among the young, whether on the play- 

oTound, on the street, in the schoolroom, or in the 

? o • • n 1 • Rivalry 

home, scientists tell us there is a constant strug- in group 

gle for existence among all living things. Every ^° ^ ^ 

creature, whether plant or animal, is striving unceasingly 

not only to preserve itself from extinction, but to better its 

conditions, which usually brings it into conflict with other 

creatures, which are struggling to obtain the same things 

that it desires. In human society the individual puts forth 



316 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

his strength and uses his wits to " get to the top " in all that 
this implies of material, moral, and intellectual superiority. 
But we are coming to see that cooperation will probably turn 
out better for society as a whole than will unrestrained com- 
petition ; and yet human beings have all been constructed 
on the competitive principle, and effort is still with most of 
us, certainly with most normal children, dependent directly 
upon the spirit of rivalry. Take a boy of ten, say, and ex- 
tract out of his impulses everything of the nature of rivalry, 
and he would become a flabby, inert, and static individual. 
Practically all of the boy's spontaneous life is competitive. 
When he has no companion to compete with he tries to excel 
himself, as it were, — to jump higher than he has ever jumped 
before, or to run faster, or to shoot straighter, or to yell 
louder. 

In education we must make some use of this great spur 
to supreme, developing effort. Quintilian long ago saw the 
superiority of training in the school to instruction at home, 
since the stimulus of rivalry is almost lacking in the latter 
case. Our professional forbears saw the value of this factor 
in education, and they sought to make the most of it through 
the establishment of an elaborate system of rewards. With- 
out question this method of arousing ambition was in some 
places carried so far that it resulted in both physical and 
moral injury to pupils. It is really not necessary to award 
prizes in order to stimulate competitive activity in pupils, 
It is usually enough for any pupil to have a chance simply 
to win in a game, no matter what it may be. If he can spell 
better than any one else in his class, or better than half his 
class, the demonstration of this ability is in itself a sufficient 
stimulus to effort, and at the same time a sufficient reward 
therefor. A certificate or badge notifying all interested per- 
sons of an individual's excellence in any respect may increase 
his satisfaction in his achievements, and be a tangible, visible 
evidence of his superiority ; but it is not essential in order 
to awaken his ambition. Consider that on the playground 



THE VALUE OP COMPETITION 31? 

the only stimulus and reward a boy has for his endeavors is 
the attainment of leadership, or at least excellence over some 
members of the group. To become the head of the group or 
the class is a perfectly natural and doubtless worthy ambi- 
tion ; and nothing in human life has greater motive force. 
So in the schoolroom the attainment of ends natural to school 
work, and for which all the pupils are striving, will be suffi- 
cient to urge most children to make the best use of their 
abilities in competition with their fellows. 

One cannot, of course, ignore the objections which many 
urge against making use of competition in the schoolroom 
or on the playground. It is said that pupils should ^^g y^^^g 

strive for ends because of their inherent worth, oicompeti- 
c 1 1 c • • 1 c tiveactlv- 

and not for the sake of winning them from some ityintte 

one else. It will not be necessary to argue the pro- ^d°on th" 
position here that the race is evolving toward a Playground 
point where competitive struggle will be less prominent than 
it has been in the past ; but we surely have not yet reached 
the point where we can get on without this incitement to 
effort. Even if we could do so in mature life, which is highly 
improbable, it is nevertheless utterly impossible to arouse 
the young effectively in any other way. In education we have 
to consider not only what the race is evolving toward, but 
also what order of things it has grown out of. Its past will 
determine the basis upon which we have to work to attain 
what lies ahead. If we ignore ancestral practices we have 
little upon which to build in the present. So an educational 
regimen based upon the doctrine of eliminating rivalry al- 
together would be weak and motiveless indeed. This implies 
that there is some place for marks and honors and all the 
other incitements to and evidences of success or failure in 
competitive struggle. Of course, there is a danger that one 
who makes use of these will come to rely upon them wholly, 
rather than upon making what is presented inherently worth- 
f ul and attractive. But it is not the part of wisdom to cure 
one evil by plunging into a greater one. According as we dis- 



318 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

cover methods of making everything that is taught genuinely 
interesting, competition will doubtless play a less important 
role in teaching than it now does ; but there is no reason to 
hope that we can for some time yet do without it entirely 
in any phase of our educational system. 

There is a further objection to rivalry in the schoolroom 
that needs to be considered before leaving the topic. It is 
said that in the competitive system the strong 
vivai of the triumph at the expense of the weak ; but in an al- 
competitivo truistic society the latter should be chiefly thought 
activity q£^ since they are the needy ones. We cannot 
endure to see the weak suffer in the struggle for either 
mental or physical survival. But if we give free play to the 
competitive spirit they will certainly go to the wall. It is 
probable that our sentiments are likely to get the better of 
our judgment in dealing with this matter. For one thing, 
the welfare of society demands the conservation of the 
strong rather than of the weak, if both cannot be con- 
served ; and any system of training which would not call 
out every power of the gifted pupil in the school would 
defeat the highest end of education, regarded either from 
the standpoint of the individual or of society. Then it 
seems likely that every individual is so constructed by 
nature that he is reasonably content if he lands in the 
position for which his talents fit him. That is to say, 
the relatively incompetent are, generally speaking, equipped 
with an emotional nature in harmony with their incom- 
petency. At the same time, nature has endowed the strong 
pupil with ambitions and desires, which if thwarted will 
prove a constant source of unrest and discontent in his 
life. Strangely enough, we have overlooked the pain which 
comes from power undeveloped or unexpressed. We have 
assumed that the man capable of being a leader could be 
happy even if this capability were not exercised. A very 
little study of human nature, though, will show that con- 
tentment arises only when one's capabilities are fully 



RESUME 319 

utilized; which being interpreted with reference to our 
present problem, implies that the life of the schoolroom 
and outside must be so conducted that every individual can 
do his level best, and take such a position in the group as 
his abilities naturally warrant. 

In their group activities children learn readily to conform to the 
rules of the game, for otherwise they will be deprived of their oppor- 
tunity to play. The tendency to respect and to follow a leader 
who can advance the interests of the group is strong in 
human nature, and manifests itself early in the child. One who is not 
considered essential to the prosperity of the group is either ignored or 
looked upon as an outsider. 

As a rule the adult, whether teacher, parent, or minister, is regarded 
as an outsider by the group during childhood and adolescence. But 
there is a growing feeling that teachers should cultivate good-fellow- 
ship with their students, and should enter freely into their spontaneous 
life. The development of athletic activities in the schools has helped 
to bridge the chasm between teacher and pupil. With the development 
of the great universities among us, some of the artificial dignity of the 
professor has disappeared ; and to-day there exists less antagonism 
than formerly between student body and faculty. Teachers now have 
greater confidence in the worth of the native tendencies and impulses 
of young people, and they are acquiring an interest in the natural 
expressions of youth. In an older day, and in some places still, the 
father was mainly a disciplinarian. Companionship between father and 
son was rare, and often mutual distrust and antipathy prevailed ; but 
the situation in this respect also is improving. 

The aim of adult group organization is mutual gain. The first group 
activity in childhood is for the purpose of promoting play. Every 
member of a true group must serve the group as a unity in some 
capacity. At the outset the child has little sense of group unity, and he 
can adjust himself to but one playfellow at a time. With development 
he comes into ever more complex relations with groups working for 
a common end, and he is compelled to recognize the interests of the 
whole in his action, until in time respect for group unity comes to 
dominate his conduct. 

To engage in play is a deep-seated instinct. Much play in childhood 
and youth is of vital importance alike for physical and for mental 
development. The physical and moral disintegration of certain Euro- 
pean peoples is probably due in large measure to the neglect of condi- 
tions essential for the proper training of the young through play. The 
children in Italian cities have only streets for playgrounds, with the 
result that they early acquire criminal tendencies. Being constantly 



320 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

preyed upon, they retaliate in kind. Because of over-stimulation they 
mature too early, and are unable fully to assimilate the culture of 
Italian civilization. 

Nations have not yet discovered how to maintain the physical and 
moral vigor of a people under urban conditions. As a rule schools are 
built by adults on the static plan, and they do not provide for the 
dynamic needs of the child. There should be a playground in charge 
of a competent playmaster in the vicinity of every public school. 
Wholesome plays properly directed impress upon the child the in- 
evitableness of social law, and enforce the lessons taught in literature, 
history, and ethics. On well-conducted playgrounds, plays and games 
are adapted to the developing needs and capacities of children. 

Playgrounds lessen crime. If a boy's energies are not utilized in 
a wholesome way they will find expression in illegitimate conduct. 
Not only do the children in the city interfere with traffic on the street, 
but they tend to find an outlet for their energies in vice and crime. 
Experts testify that through the playground the proper influence of 
home, school, and church is extended outside over the whole life of the 
child. 

Boys left to themselves and without proper amusements will resort 
to bullying, hazing, quarreling, and fighting. But when proper play- 
grounds are provided, bad conduct may be avoided and cured through 
wholesome activities. Organization and substitution must be the 
watchwords in home and school. 

While the welfare of society as a whole demands cooperation rather 
than unrestrained competition, yet the natural impulse toward rivalry 
is necessary, to a certain extent, for the best development. So far as 
possible pupils should be stimulated to exert themselves in the school 
because of interest in the work ; but it would be a serious error to 
eliminate all competitive activity from the schoolroom. Competition is 
the greatest motive force to which the teacher can appeal. While iu 
competitive activity due regard should be paid to the interests of the 
weak, still the welfare of society demands the conservation and full 
development of the strong as well as the weak. Individual well-being 
also requires that the " lad o' pairts " should have his powers fully 
exercised, which is impossible if he is made to keep step with the 
child who is " born short." 



CHAPTER XIV 

PROBLEMS OF TRAINING 

The following situation is typical in main features of those 
that are constantly arising in the training of children. J., 
a boy of seven years, was on a certain occasion . ^^. . 
going from his home into the city on an errand, instance oi 
The weather was cold, as his parents thought, and Retraining 
he was instructed to protect himself by wearing <** children 
his warmest coat. He protested, saying in effect that his 
coat impeded his freedom, so that he could not run when 
he had it on, and it annoyed him greatly. He asked per- 
mission to put on a lighter one so that he would be freer 
in his movements. His elders were insistent, however, and 
urged him to wear the objectionable article, although he 
continued to resist, declaring that he could not " stand it," 
and that he would be " all right without it." He was angry 
and " stubborn," and so were the grown people who were 
coercing him. They seemed to think he was disobedient and 
ugly, and he evidently thought they were unreasonable. 

J.'s attitude was in a way a perfectly "natural" one, 
for children dislike the constriction caused by close-fitting, 
heavy clothing. This antipathy may serve a useful end to 
some degree, since it is probably a detriment to a growing 
child to be bundled up in a manner that might be no dis- 
advantage whatever to older persons. At the same time it 
was natural for those who were responsible for J.'s wel- 
fare to feel that the weather was too severe for him to go 
out without the protection of his warm coat. They were 
solicitous only for his well-being, and they were annoyed 
because he did not recognize this and respond appropri- 
ately. The circumstances were such as to arouse lively emo- 
tions on both sides. The child could not appreciate the 



322 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

adult's point of view either in reference to his health or to 
the social requirements of the community ; and he regarded 
the demands made on him as arbitrary and unnecessary, 
and so conflict was inevitable. 

There is a large principle involved in this instance. 
Nature seems to have established in every normal child an 
intense desire to rid himself of all impedimenta to free ac- 
tion, which is seen in his tendency to run out of the house 
at all times without hat or coat, or even shoes. He is quite 
indifferent to the physical effects of exposure to wind and 
cold and rain ; indeed, he normally enjoys exposing himself, 
and will uncomplainingly endure experiences which would 
greatly disturb an adult. The child has in him something 
of the bravado and the hardihood of primitive man, who 
was constantly exposed, and who trained himself to submit 
without a murmur to hardships of exposure and fatigue. It 
can be seen, then, why it is practically impossible for the 
child to take the adult's point of view in respect to these 
matters ; he is so dominated by his impulses that he cannot 
" listen to reason." Nothing is reasonable to him which is 
hostile to his profound desires. When he is under the sway 
of his passions, he is incapacitated from seeing the justice or 
the value of any proposals which contemplate blocking him 
in the realization of his ends. So there must frequently be 
disparity between the child's and the adult's estimate of 
values in regard to the conduct of the former, who often 
has only his impulses as a basis for determination, while 
the latter is likely to have a larger or smaller body of vital 
experience to control the influence of mere desire. 

But to keep to the specific instance under consideration. 
Here is the mother who cannot endure inclement weather 

herself unless well protected, who enjoys the feel- 
point3of ing of clothing, and who thinks her position in 

society requires that her children be always com- 
pletely and conventionally attired, while the attitude of her 
child is diametrically opposed on every point. What is to 



THE POWER OF VOICE AND MANNER 323 

be done in such a situation ? In this special case the oppo- 
sition of J. to the wishes of the parent, and his feeling of 
irritation, were finally subdued by an outsider coming on 
the scene and speaking to him in a calm, reassuring tone, 
and putting his arm around him gently yet strongly, and 
suggesting to him that he put on the coat this time, and it 
would be seen what could be done about it in the future. 
This manifestation of respect for J.'s feeling, and an ex- 
pression of willingness to take into account the advisability 
of indulging him in it in the future modified his feeling of 
resistance. Gradually the happier emotions gained control, 
and soon discharged the disagreeable ones altogether. What 
seemed to be demanded here was, in the first place, a recog- 
nition of the reasonableness of the child's desires regarded 
from his own point of view. Secondly, a strong, positive, 
but at the same time sympathetic determination to lead 
him, in a way which would not irritate him, to see the jus- 
tice of the command that had been given him. In the third 
place, there was needed an effective use of suggestion, which 
should cause him to see so far as possible the advantages 
of doing the thing which had been requested of him, and 
so draw his attention off from the unhappy aspects of the 
matter. 

This will be the appropriate place, perhaps, to mention a 
general principle of vast importance. In all discipline it 
may be noted that there is a very subtle power in personal 
the voice and manner, which may either antago- ^cj^|*^^* 
nize the one under treatment, or it may allay his resistance 
anger and release his resistance, so that suggestions may 
the more readily be carried out. One of the most serious 
mistakes that can occur in the kind of situation described 
is for authority to be expressed in an irritable, domineering, 
or challengeful way. Possibly it is even more unfortunate 
to set to work calling up the child's past offenses, and " nag- 
ging " him about them, with the end in view to impress his 
failings upon him, as though this could reform him. It may 



324 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

be a relief to the tense nerves of the governess, but it is 
only an excitant to the child. Then it is a simple princi- 
ple of psychology that shortcomings which are habitually 
brought to the child's attention in either a positive or a 
negative way tend to fasten themselves in his character. 
Doubtless there are occasions when summoning his past life 
of error before an offender may give rise to emotions which 
will put him into a condition to receive instruction from his 
elders. But in the great majority of cases it seems best to 
deal with the action immediately in hand, and keep the past 
out of view. What is required is to produce the proper re- 
sponse in the individual, with the least possible disturbance 
or debate or delay. Usually mere argument when the of- 
fender is on the defensive only strengthens him in his atti- 
tude of opposition ; especially is this the case with children 
before the adolescent period. 

This leads to some reflections upon the futility of word 
encounters in discipline, whether of a light or a serious 
The futility character. The writer has observed that when 
vertai cor children are genuinely interested in what they are 
rection doing, they are often likely to be but little influ- 
enced by anything their elders say to them in the way of 
correction or prohibition, unless these elders have early 
established complete authority over them. To illustrate : a 
boy of six is running across the room and jumping on the 
sofa, and the governess says, " I wish you would not do 
that," and he goes right on with the game, pleading, " Just 
once or twice more," which means until he has become satis- 
fied. The words of the governess are not potent enough to 
inhibit the flow of energy along the open routes. When 
a child gets started in any activity which appeals to him 
strongly, he will not leave off until his energy is exhausted, 
or until some really powerful stimulus turns his attention 
in another direction. An adult is not normally so completely 
dominated by any activity as a child often is ; which means 
that the former can more or less spontaneously turn his 



HOW COMMANDS ARE MADE EFFECTIVE 325 

attention from one object to another as conditions make de- 
sirable, wbereas tbe child is to a large extent " charmed " 
by anything which has interest for him. One may see well- 
disposed and really obedient children who, while playing, 
or reading some absorbing story, must be called to meals a 
half dozen times. Words strike on their ears, but they have 
practically no influence upon the concerns which are at the 
time occupying the focus of consciousness. Even if a com- 
mand makes an impression for the moment, it is forgotten 
in an instant, dislodged by the ideas in the saddle, and in 
possession of the motor routes. Children have short memo- 
ries for behests opposed to the current of their interests. 
One may see parents who keep telling their children to do 
this or to do that, — to sit up and keep still, to stop fidget- 
ing, or playing, or whispering, and so on, and their com- 
mands accomplish but little ; and if oft repeated they may 
lose their force altogether. Words, as they come from the 
lips of the average trainer, seem too weak to turn aside or 
to restrain the dominant tendencies of the child's ideas, emo- 
tions, and motor processes. 

Of course, one may speak in such a way that his words 
will take effect ; but really in such a case it is not the mere 
words that produce response, but the vocal into- How corn- 
nation, facial expression, gesticulation, bodily atti- ™^*^ 
tudes, and the like. These have a deep signifi- eHecUvo 
cance for the child, and he early gets his cue from them. 
As he develops, words in themselves continually increase 
in potency,^ because they become enriched with meaning, 
and thus acquire both coercive and inhibitive power ; so 
that the behavior of an adult may be determined by the 
words spoken to him, without much accompanying expres- 
sion denoting the real attitudes of the one who governs. 
But it is altogether different with the child; he gets his 
bearing as to the intentions of his trainers mainly from 

^ This principle is discussed iu detail in the author's Linguistic Develop- 
ment and Education, Part I. 



326 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

bodily expression, and especially from direct physical con- 
tact. It is not necessary or perhaps desirable that the 
trainer inflict pain of any consequence in this physical con- 
tact ; but simply taking a rebellious child in his arms in 
such a manner as to suggest strength and decision will 
usually change the attitude of the nonconformist, and he 
will be likely to follow the suggestions of authority without 
resistance. Instead, then, of standing afar off and command- 
ing a young child who is absorbed in his own enterprises, 
the governess ought to put herself alongside him, and cause 
him to realize in other than verbal terms the urgency and 
importance of the command. If words are relied upon 
mainly, they must be loaded with suggestions of power and 
determination, in which the whole expressive mechanism of 
the trainer cooperates as a unity. If this be done in the early 
years, there will be little difficulty in the later years ; but 
if it be neglected during the formative period, it will entail 
no end of trouble later on. It is a common thing to see 
parents in more or less constant verbal contests with their 
children from the age of three forward, simply because dur- 
ing the first three years they did not use words sparingly 
and other forms of expression generously in their disciplin- 
ary methods. The really successful trainer is one who when 
the child is in harmony with his environment has a thor- 
oughly " good time " with him ; but who, when the latter 
needs correction, ceases his talk largely, and reveals his 
disapproval through the eye and every part of the body. 
One whose general expressions do not suggest force, deci- 
sion, resoluteness, moral courage, can hardly discipline chil- 
dren effectively, no matter how good his theories on the 
subject may be. Observe the result of such a person saying 
to a vigorous boy, " Don't you do that or I will punish you." 
Now, there is doubtless in all normal children a strong 
tendency to manifest independence in the face of authority 
if they feel they can win. And then for a weak character 
in the position of teacher or parent to tell a boy that he will 



INDIFFERENCE TO COMMANDS 327 

chastise him if he does a certain thing is to dare him to do 
it, and the natural reaction of the boy is to accept the chal- 
lenge, — not openly and directly, it may be, but rather in 
an underhanded way, and by degrees. However, when the 
command is given by one who makes the boy feel there is 
back of it great strength and firmness and absolute fair- 
ness, which qualities cannot he adequately expressed ver- 
bally, it tends to break down resisting attitudes, which are 
always active in the presence of weak personalities. 

Before leaving the topic of making commands effective 
we may glance at the following incident, which is typical of 
many that can be observed in the ordinary home Oommanda 
where there are three or four children, who are n^t wach 
stimulated in many ways in the effort to adapt tiie child's 
themselves to a complex environment. A boy, attention 
Henry, eight years of age, was making preparations to 
leave the house to skate. There were other boys in the 
house, — a brother and two playmates, — who were also pre- 
paring to go on the ice. It was a cold day, and the father, 
who happened to be passing the boys in the hallway, sug- 
gested to Henry that he should put on a sweater under his 
coat. When the suggestion was made the four boys were 
all talking at the same time ; and, of course, they were ex- 
cited, and absorbed in the discussion of plans they were 
making for a game of hockey. They were debating who 
should be partners in the game ; and to an onlooker it was 
evident that they were deeply interested in the matter, and 
each was eager to contribute his views to the solution of 
the problem. Henry, who is naturally of an " intense " type, 
throwing himself without reserve into any enterprise in 
which he is engaged, was evidently entirely possessed by 
his view of the matter under consideration. The expression 
of his whole being showed that he was giving himself abso- 
lutely to the problem which the group was trying to solve. 
When the father made the suggestion, Henry seemed to 
give it his attention for a moment, and he responded with, 



328 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

" Yes, I will." But the very tone of his voice, as well as 
the " look in his eye," and the attitude of his body, showed 
that he reacted as he did simply to get rid of the father in 
order that he might go back again to the discussion of the 
interesting situation which had completely captivated him. 
The " Yes, I will " was a rather automatic, or at best per- 
functory, response to his father's command. It really did 
not mean that the boy had fully comprehended the com- 
mand, — had understood just what was required of him, 
and had given his assent to it. Probably at the moment 
when he made his reply his attention was centred prima- 
rily on the game of hockey, and not on putting on his 
sweater. All his expressions seemed to indicate that the 
latter had not gained entrance to the focus of his conscious- 
ness at all ; certainly it had not presented itself vividly 
enough really to attract the boy's attention and influence 
his conduct. 

The sequel to this event hardly needs to be related. 
Henry went on to the ice without his sweater. The father 
presently discovered the fact, and he proceeded at once to 
administer what he regarded was just and necessary disci- 
pline. He summoned Henry to appear before him, and then 
asked him why he did not obey when he was instructed to 
wear his sweater. Henry declared he did not hear his father 
give the command ; and the latter interpreted this to indi- 
cate that the boy was not only disobedient, but that he was 
also untruthful. Consequently, he forbade Henry to go upon 
the ice again for a week. Meanwhile he should not leave 
his house to play with other boys, and his companions would 
not be permitted to come to play with him. In dismissing 
Henry after giving him his penalty the father upbraided 
him for indifference to commands, and threatened to make 
the punishment more severe next time if he did not " do as 
he was told." 

The boy left his father, feeling that he had been dealt 
with unjustly. Of course, the penalty was disagreeable ; and 



HOW INDIFFERENCE IS DEVELOPED 329 

why should it have been administered at all? The father had 
not really commanded Henry, according to the latter's re- 
membrance of the matter. But was the boy lying, or had he 
really forgotten the command altogether ? From the father's 
standpoint it was absolutely impossible that he should not 
have heard and understood the command. But the chances 
are that Henry really did not hear appreciatively what was 
said to him. He heard sufficiently to make an automatic 
reply, but not to execute what was suggested, when this was 
different, as it actually was, from what he was engaged in at 
the moment. It is a simple matter of daily experience with 
most people that they perform numerous actions of which 
they are wholly unconscious at the time, and which they can- 
not afterward remember. When any one, either a child or 
an adult, is deeply absorbed in any object or activity, he 
may adapt himself mechanically to many familiar stimula- 
tions uni'elated thereto, but without really appreciating what 
he is doing. Ask him afterwards what he did on this oc- 
casion, and he may not be able to tell you, for it was not a 
matter of conscious execution at all. In the same way a boy 
may use the phrase " Yes, I will," but without being ex- 
plicitly conscious of what is required of him or what he is 
saying. The test of whether he is appreciating or not is 
found in the expression of the eyes and face and the bodily 
attitudes, and not in the mere words themselves. 

In all probability Henry was innocent on this particular 
occasion. The father was unquestionably at fault. He gave 
his suggestion in an off-hand way, under circum- jjo^jjiau. 
stances which made it a practical certainty that it ferenoeto 
would not take effect. The situation was aggra- is developed 
vated because of the tendency of this parent to go ^•^J^ii^^'^ 
about among his children, throwing out more or less unim- 
portant commands right and left, and then not following 
most of them up with appropriate treatment in the event 
that they were not obeyed. Consequently the children had 
acquired a rather indifferent attitude toward the majority of 



330 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

his suggestions ; they were given so frequently that they 
had lost their impressiveness. It is a simple law of human 
nature that any oft-repeated stimulation tends to become 
weakened in its effect, provided that it runs counter to the 
usual current and natural trend of the individual's life. It 
is easily possible, then, that a person, even an adult, may get 
into the habit of responding conformably in a perfunctory 
manner to commands or exhortations, but without really 
intending either to obey or disobey. Nature seems to pro- 
tect an individual who is in an environment where he is 
constantly stimulated in this way, by leading him to react 
verbally and automatically to these rather unimportant 
stimulations, and then devote himself to matters that are 
really vital, as he conceives them to be at the moment. This 
principle can be seen operating in many a home and school 
with respect to the particular problem under consideration 
here. 

The moral is not difficult to draw. In the first place it Is 
disastrous to the development of ready and effective obedi- 
ence in a child to be showering commands upon him con- 
stantly, most of which he can and probably ought to ignore 
with impunity. The inevitable result must be that he will 
in time become unresponsive to even important instructions 
when issued by any one. It is not that he deliberately sets 
himself against the will of his elders or superiors ; the trou- 
ble is that his will is not awakened at all with reference to 
their requests, and his conduct cannot be criticised in respect 
to the matter of obedience. 

Experience and psychology alike indorse the proposition 
that for the welfare of the child in his learning cheerful 
compliance with the demands of lawful authority, orders 
should be but infrequently issued to him, and they should 
always be given under conditions which will insure that the 
child thoroughly comprehends them and realizes their mean- 
ing and importance. That is to say, a command must be 
made to dislodge everything from the focus of conciousness 



QUALITIES OF A SUCCESSFUL TRAINER 331 

at the moment it is given. A wise parent or teacher, then, 
will be cautious about giving directions to a child when he 
is dominated by some strong idea or feeling. Under such 
circumstances the behest should be deferred, or else the 
child's attention should be completely gained, and the ver- 
bal statement should be reinforced by appropriate facial 
expression, bodily attitudes, and vocal timbre. In brief, 
the command should be made to take effect in the child's 
consciousness ; then if he does not execute it, he will be 
disobedient ; but otherwise he will simply be uninfluenced 
by it. 

Our discussion leads us now to mention some of the 
general qualities which a trainer must possess in Qualities 
order to exert proper control over the young. First a^lucoess- 
and foremost, a successful trainer must have mother *^ trainer 
love in a large sense, intelligent sympathy, a warm heart, 
Promethean fire. He must possess genuine, rational affec- 
tion for humanity. Here is a trainer one often meets whose 
thoughts are too much upon self and too little upon others, 
except as he seeks to use them to further his personal ends, 
unconscious as he may be of his own attitudes ; he is self- 
centred, isolated, cold. But here again is a quite different 
type of person, one who has a fine sort of feeling for people. 
He is outward-tending in his life and manner ; his mind 
dwells not upon his personal concerns to the exclusion of 
the interests of his children. He is not constantly wondering 
what the world thinks of him, and whether he is receiving 
proper "respect" and " obedience " from his flock. These 
things he takes to be right and as matters of course. Thus, 
being indifferent of self, he is most considerate of others. 
This is of the nature of mother love, and it must be implanted 
in the heart before the individual sets out on the journey 
of life. This instinct alone gives that delicate, ready action 
in momentous situations which decides the fate for good or 
ill of training. Mother love is kind ; it is not puffed up ; it is 
long-suffering and generous ; but it is always strong and 



332 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

effective ; it is lightning-quick in estimating conditions and 
deciding upon the course of action appropriate thereto. 

There is another grace which should adorn those who train 
_ the young, and which, in greater or less part, is a 

type oi gift of nature and not of culture. It is the attribute 

of resoluteness, of decisiveness. It is the power 
of summoning all one's wits and energies in the face of critical 
situations, and driving straight to the desired goal. Ham- 
let would never have succeeded as a teacher ; he was too halt- 
ing in his actions, too deferential to his intellect, too statical. 
There are many Hamlets in the schoolrooms of this country, 
who stand sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought when 
immediate and decisive action alone will carry the day. 
Students of psychology now conceive of a human being as 
comprised of a triune nature. On the one side he is recep- 
tive of sensory stimulations from the world without his own 
being ; on the other he is judicial, — he weighs, estimates, 
considers ; and finally and practically, he is executive, active, 
motor. The first two departments of his being exist for the 
sake of the third ; life is real and earnest, full of practical 
values, and its end lies in conduct, in action, not in mere 
reception or contemplation. The most efficient trainer is 
the one who " thinks " just enough and rapidly enough to 
guide his action aright and without delay. And the right- 
fulness of many acts, as James has said, can be determined 
only by testing them ; while others, in the well-balanced 
mind, spring forth from the depths thereof, and go straight 
to the mark without let or hindrance from the discursive 
reason. Now, with Hamlet, the judicial part of his being 
had become severed from the active part, and he was weak- 
ened thereby, at least when he was called upon to deal with 
practical situations. He was too inward tending ; all his ex- 
periences were judged from a purely subjective point of view. 
He was an egoistic-introspective type, one in whom the whole 
delicate machinery of wise instincts was thrown out of gear, 
so that he could not cope with the world in any effective way. 



RELATION BETWEEN CHILD AND TRAINER 333 

And this characteristic cannot but impress a child as in- 
competence, as weakness ; for, after all, people, young and 
old, are influenced by those who have masterly possession 
of themselves in action when this is needed ; in whom there 
may be on occasion, which presents itself so frequently in 
school and home, a sort of totalizing of all the powers and 
capabilities of one's being. We have already seen that those 
who in their demeanor in the exigencies of daily life exhibit 
marked strength and harmony of powers carry everything 
before them. Antagonistic tendencies in pupils are set at 
rest in the presence of great vigor of this kind. 

It will be proper now to inquire whether the child should 

habitually react toward his trainer, whether parent or 

teacher or minister, as one of whom he stands in „ , ., 

Relation 

awe, or as one whom he regards as a companion between 
and even a playmate. We may here glance at and Ma 
Locke's views relating to this point, since he is ^'^^^ 
the most illustrious representative of the doctrine that the 
child must not at the outset feel at all familiar with those 
who train him, lest they lose their authority over him. Says 
Locke : — 

I imagine every one will judge it reasonable that their Chil- 
dren, when little, should look upon their Parents as their Lords, 
their absolute Governors, and as such stand in awe of them ; and 
that when they come to riper Years, they should look upon them 
as their best, or their only sure Friends, and as such love and rev- 
erence them. . . . I£ therefore a strict Hand be kept over Children 
from the Beginning, they will in Age be tractable, and quietly 
submit to it, as never having known any other : And if as they 
grow up to the Use of Reason, the Rigour of Government be, as 
they deserve it, gently relax'd, the Father's Brow more smooth'd 
to them, and Distance by Degrees abated, his former Restraints 
will increase their Love, when they find it was only a kindness to 
them, and a Care to make them capable to deserve the Favour o£ 
their Parents, and the Esteem of every Body else.^ 

In our own country, as we have already seen, we are not 

^ Locke, Education, Quick, sec. 41. 



3M SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

following Locke's advice, for most people treat their children 
as though they were their equals. American children do not 
as a rule stand in awe of their parents, or really of their 
teachers, their ministers, or any one else in the community. 
In Germany and England, however, the situation is quite 
different ; and the outcome upon the conduct of the young 
is apparent. English and German children are more " re- 
spectful " and obedient than they are with us, but our 
children are more original, forceful, and independent, — 
so much so, indeed, in some cases that they are incessantly 
in conflict with the representatives of authority in the 
home, the school, and the church. There is no doubting 
the fact that our young people are more competent, in 
the large sense of the term, than those of any European 
country, but they are at the same time more " disorderly," 
and less inclined to adjust themselves to the existing condi- 
tion of things. They are more boisterous, self-assertive, and 
inconsiderate of persons and customs than are the young 
people of any other country probably. While there may be 
many factors cooperating to produce these characteristic 
traits of American children, yet one factor is unquestionably 
more potent than any other : with us parents do not keep 
aloof from their children, they do not assume the attitude 
of governors toward them, as they do elsewhere. Here the 
father makes a playmate of his boy, and the latter rarely 
acquires a feeling of awe toward the former. It is the com- 
mon practice for the father to " josh " his boys, who pay 
back in kind. They wrestle together, compete in every sort 
of game, play practical jokes freely on one another, ad- 
dress one another as though they were on terms of absolute 
equality, instead of one being ruler and the other subject. 

In this give and take between father and son there is at 
the time being no restraint on either side, because of 
a sense of one being superior to the other ; any one who 
will observe the current of life in a typical American home 
may easily note this fact. If an Englishman or a German 



LEADERSHIP AND COMPANIONSHIP 335 

happens into such a home when conventionalities are laid 
aside (which is the usual thing), he is more or less shocked 
at the apparent irreverence of the children, who talk to 
their parents as they talk to their playmates. The saluta- 
tion " Sir " or " Ma'am " is almost entirely abandoned in 
American homes and schools, though the equivalents thereof 
are retained in most foreign countries. In an older day in 
our own country children always showed their deference to 
their father by addressing him on all occasions with " Sir." 
But to-day if the typical father asks his seven-year-old son, 
say, such a question as " Did you have good lessons at 
school to-day?" the boy does not respond with "Yes, sir," 
or "Yes, father," but with "You bet," or "It was bum 
work to-day." Thus have the times changed in respect to 
the outward relations, at any rate, between parents and 
their children. 

The reader has without doubt anticipated a certain 
difficulty toward which we have been drifting in our dis- 
cussion. On previous occasions it has been said canieader- 
that comradeship between trainer and child is ship and 

, companion- 
more favorable to sound social development than ship be 
(• 1 j.*itj. j.1'1 combined 
lormai, conventional politeness or respect, which in the same 

can be observed only when the child stands in individual? 
awe of his elders. But if the boy makes a companion of his 
father and his teacher, will the latter be able to guide him 
in seasons of storm and stress in the effort to adjust himself 
to his social environment? While the child is to some 
extent educated by his companions, still the latter are abso- 
lutely incapable of keeping him growing on steadily until 
he reaches the highest point in social development. If a 
child had only companions to urge him on, he would early 
suffer arrest in his evolution along every line. Adaptation 
to the complex phases of the social, the intellectual, or the 
industrial environment is a difficult process, and it will not 
be achieved by any individual unless he will respond to 
a force which will urge him forward when on his own 



336 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

initiative he would come betimes to a halt. We must recog- 
nize the fact that, if left to himself, the child would in- 
evitably stop on a low plane of development, and contact 
with persons on the basis of mere companionship would not 
keep him growing until he had reached the level of the 
social environment about him. So it is not dogmatic to say 
that there must be those who stand in such a relation to 
the individual that they can and will coerce him when 
necessary, and he will not resist them, but will readily 
follow their leading. 

Is it posssible to combine in the same individual the quali- 
ties of a leader and of a companion? Can a father be a 
" good fellow " with his boys, and train them in right living 
at the same time ? Can a teacher be as one of the group on 
the playground, but a guide and master in the schoolroom? 
Every reader can doubtless call to mind some persons who 
are capable of meeting these requirements, but they are not 
as frequently met with as one could wish. Unquestionably 
human nature is so constituted that it cannot, as a rule, 
change readily from an attitude of give and take on terms 
of complete equality to the attitude of leader, or of disci- 
plinarian when correction is essential. But the really com- 
petent trainer can do this. He can be on the most familiar 
terms with his children when the occasion permits of play 
relations ; but when the situation demands coercion, or pe- 
nalizing, he can assume the attitudes essential to the efficient 
performance of the task. In this way he can lead his chil- 
dren to properly evaluate their experiences and the various 
lines of conduct which they might pursue. But one who is 
either " easy " or severe under all circumstances cannot give 
the young the right perspective in viewing the varied possi- 
bilities of action presented to them. 

In our American life we need to cultivate the type of 
trainer who can be a playfellow and at the same time a 
leader. It is too early, perhaps, to say what will be the out- 
come of our method of making friends and equals of our 



A DANGER IN AMERICAN LIFE 337 

children ; but it seems safe to predict that if we can keep 
our control over them so that we can secure their constant 
growth until they have assimilated all the best the race has 
achieved, we will make them all the more capable and happy, 
if we may so speak, because of our cordiality with them. 
Those children develop in a more optimistic and joyous way 
apparently who are not constantly repressed and oppressed 
by their superiors. One is struck with this fact as he studies 
child-lif'^- in different European countries, and notes how in 
some instances the constant dread of discipline from stern, 
unbending authority sobers and even saddens childhood and 
youth. On the other hand, where authority is utterly lax 
children are likely to go so far in their spontaneity that they 
come frequently into conflict with the established social order, 
and they grow irritable and discontented. There is a median 
way which the wise trainer will attempt to pursue. He will 
at one time put aside entirely his adult austerity and stiff- 
ness, and enter completely into the absolutely unconventional 
activities of his children ; but at another time he will hold 
them to exact and unvarying conformity to all the principles 
of action essential to their sound intellectual, moral, and 
physical development. 

In this connection attention should be called to certain 
tendencies in American life which indicate that we are not 

keepins^ our children plastic and educable as Ions: . ^ 

r is r ^ ^ & A danger m 

as we should. It is perhaps a familiar fact that the American 
young of the lower races of men mature much 
earlier than the children of highly developed peoples. Among 
some of the more primitive African tribes boys and girls dis- 
charge many of the functions of men and women before they 
have reached their teens. They are beginning to take on 
adult traits at an age when our own children are just enter- 
ing school. Of course, the effect of early maturing, as was 
pointed out in another chapter,^ is to put a stop betimes to 
development ; and this is without question true of individuals 
^ Chapter xiii. 



338 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

among civilized peoples as it is of races. As we have seen, 
the children on the streets of a great city tend to reach adult- 
hood, physically and mentally, several years before those 
living under less stimulating conditions. Observation in 
European countries will probably convince any one that 
those nations that keep the young plastic, and so educable, 
for the longest period are unquestionably the most vigorous, 
prosperous, and progressive in every way. 

Happily the trend in our own country thus far has been 
in the direction of lengthening the maturing process. A few 
decades ago the grammar school marked the close of the 
developing period for the great body of children, but we see 
now that a constantly increasing proportion of them remain 
in the assimilative attitude until they complete the secondary 
school and the college. Our people are probably committed 
to the policy of constantly extending the educational period 
for all our children; but there are forces at work in our 
educational system which are threatening to counteract the 
beneficial results of a lengthened school course. At this time 
it is the intention to refer only to the adoption of adult 
attitudes, interests, and activities by pupils in the elementary 
and high-school stage of development. Many observers of 
college customs are deploring the prevalence of practices 
hostile to the student temper of mind, — smoking, drinking, 
gambling, and political and social excesses. A considerable 
proportion of the students in our higher institutions receive 
comparatively little profit from their college course. They 
are not in the learning attitude ; they are too sophisticated. 
They have sampled life in all its aspects, and they have largely 
lost interest in acquiring what the race has discovered that 
may make life richer for the individual and for society. All 
they do in fulfillment of college requirements is done in a 
more or less formal and mechanical way. They are blase 
before they have completed the period of youth, a catastrophe 
which probably happens often when the ripening process 
proceeds too rapidly. If adult activities be not assumed until 



THE EVIL OF EARLY SOPHISTICATION 339 

full maturity of mind and body is reached, they tend in- 
definitely to have a wholesome interest for the individual; 
but it is quite different when the boy becomes a man in 
experience before nature intended he should. 

Harmful as early sophistication is in the college, it is 
little short of a disaster in the elementary or even in the 
high school. One of our most serious problems in 
American education to-day is found right here, early so- 
From every section of the country come loud com- 
plaints from teachers concerning the evil results of the gen- 
eral introduction into secondary schools of fraternities and 
sororities, inter-academic athletics, gambling, " proms " and 
balls, smoking clubs, and the like. The high school is aping 
the college in these respects, and even going beyond its ex- 
cesses. Boys and girls still in the preliminary stages of 
physical and intellectual development are indulging in cer- 
tain of the dissipations of adults, and in consequence thereof 
they are losing their enthusiasm for the developing activi- 
ties that should occupy them mainly at this time. The tes- 
timony from every quarter is to the effect that the legitimate 
work of the secondary school is seriously threatened by the 
invasion of these extraneous interests, and there is a de- 
mand for heroic measures in order to keep the lives of our 
pupils simple and plastic and assimilative. 

Parents are largely at fault in this matter, for they often 
encourage their children in their attempts to be " exclu- 
sive," and to mimic their elders in forming secret societies, 
attending theatres, balls, and the like. They refuse to co- 
operate with teachers in their efforts to keep high-school 
life simple and wholesome, and adapted to continuous de- 
velopment. Principals report that parents often take delight 
in the thought that their girls are in a high-school sorority, 
and attend balls, and have " beaux," while a neighbor's 
girls are not invited. Such parents provide dances for high- 
school boys and girls, and they encourage late hours and 
other excesses practiced by adults. The excuse offered for 



340 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

this sort of thing is that young people ought to have diver- 
sion, and it is argued that the activities of the ballroom are 
more diverting than anything else ; but teachers say that 
pupils who frequent the ballroom are incapable of effective 
work in the school. 

Students of human development are universally agreed 
that when the relations between the sexes which the ball- 
room encourages become prominent early in adolescence, 
the result will not be beneficial either to mind or to body. 
This does not imply that boys and girls are to be separated 
in their work, but there is a difference between their solv- 
ing together problems in science or history or literature, 
and meeting in a ballroom for the sole purpose of personal 
contact. No people have ever long endured among whom 
the ballroom, and the relations which it develops, occupied 
an important place during the period of early youth. Speak- 
ing generally, when an adolescent catches the dancing fever, 
and it runs its course, his mental evolution ceases betimes. 
It is perhaps about as disastrous when he acquires a profes- 
sional interest in an athletic team, either as a player or as 
a " rooter " for a team. Everything of this sort operates to 
stifle interest in the less exciting situations presented in 
science or history or literature ; but the mastery of these 
latter interests is absolutely essential for the welfare alike 
of the indiAddual and of society. 

Parents are their children's worst enemies when they en- 
courage them in adopting adult practices in their tender 
years. The normal boy and girl will really enjoy the experi- 
ence of being initiated into a secret society more if they 
wait until they have completed the high school at least. 
The adolescent will find wholesome pleasure, and genuine 
upbuilding pleasure, in a simple, assimilative, unsophisti- 
cated regime, if the people in any community will agree to 
preserve the high-school epoch from these practices of ma- 
turity, which are now giving us so much trouble. The aim 
must be to keep the period of youth teachable, so that the 



CONCERNING DANCING 341 

thoughts of the individual may be turned toward the things 
of the school, and away from mere temporary interests. In 
a certain city in the Middle West, in which sororities and 
fraternities and athletic teams have flourished, the major 
part of the thought and energy of a large proportion of the 
students is devoted to these extra-school diversions. The 
spirit among these pupils is unwholesome, and detrimental 
to their full development, as is shown in the career of a 
number of them after they have left the high school. 

Since dancing has been mentioned, it will be proper to 
speak of it further here, for it is one of the most important 
problems in the high school to-day. It will prob- concerning 
ably not be news to any reader to hear that peo- dancing 
pie — boys and girls, men and women — have always been 
interested in the dance. Even among primitive men, where 
the struggle for survival is keen, dancing is a favorite pas- 
time. Many of the religious ceremonies of races like our 
Indians are based upon the dance. In all their celebrations 
dancing in some form furnishes the primary means of amuse- 
ment and of social intercourse. This is doubtless due to 
the fact that through the dance groups of people can be 
unitized and harmonized, as they can hardly be so easily 
and effectively in any other way. When the members of a 
group all act in unison in response to any sort of rhythm, 
they cease to a greater or less extent to be isolated, and to 
act as individuals in opposition or indifference to one another. 
All who participate in the dance are brought into accord in 
action, and to some extent in feeling. Even such a simple 
act among children as " keeping step " to the beat of a drum 
is an organizing and harmonizing influence. 

There is, of course, a rich emotional effect from respond- 
ing to rhythm, which makes the dance so pleasurable to 
most persons, particularly to youth. It is probable also that 
dancing is of great value in physical development ; and it is 
certainly beneficial to the nervous system, if not carried 
to excess. People who have danced know that when one 



342 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

is " nervous," dancing often enables him to " get hold of 

himself " again. It helps him to totalize his energies, and 

to discipline his nerves through rhythmical expression. Of 

course, in contemporary life, as perhaps among primitive 

people, dancing may come to occupy too prominent a place 

in the individual's activities, when its potential value may 

be lost. But this indicates simply that it should not be left 

to be practiced by people under unduly exciting conditions 

and only on rare occasions, for then even temperate persons 

are likely to go to excess. It should become a part of their 

daily lives, and should be regarded as of marked hygienic 

and educational value. 

Unhappily, dancing in present-day society has become 

confined to a very narrow range of movements. In an older 

- „ . day, not farther back than the time of our grand- 

Folk dances *^ . . , ° 

In the fathers, dancers indulged in a much richer and 

more varied programme than they now do. And 
to go back still farther, the folk dances of our ancestors 
comprised a wealth of rhythmical expressions which have 
been lost out of modern life completely, so far as the danc- 
ing of either young or mature people is concerned. In our 
day, even among pinafore boys and girls, the dance is con- 
fined almost wholly to the movements of the waltz and the 
two-step, which are extremely meagre in variety. Indeed, 
they may be said to lack variety altogether. In the execu- 
tion of these dances only two persons come into relation with 
one another, whereas in the dances of our grandfathers, — 
the minuets, the reels, the so-called square dances, etc., — 
many persons assumed rhythmical and social attitudes 
toward each other at one and the same time. Compared 
with these earlier dances, the present-day waltz and two- 
step seem degenerate in the extreme. They lack richness 
and vitality, alike for the development of rhythmical move- 
ment in the individual, and for the cultivation of grace and 
courtesy in social adjustment. One might be able to dance 
the two-step or the waltz acceptably, and be neither grace- 



FOLK DANCES IN THE SCHOOLS 343 

ful nor courteous in any large sense ; but this would be 
impossible in respect to the dances o£ a more varied charac- 
ter, where a dozen persons, say, are brought into adjustment 
with one another in any one dance. 

So there is not much to be said in favor of the modern 
waltz and two-step for high-school boys and girls, and still 
less for younger children. But happily new interest is devel- 
oping in the dances of our ancestors, and especially the folk 
dances. The passion for dancing which appears during the 
high-school epoch could be gratified in a beneficial way by 
the introduction of folk dances into the high school, making 
them a part of the daily work of every student. The writer 
has observed these dances in a number of schools in different 
parts of the country, and he has found that teachers and 
pupils alike are interested in them, and praise them for 
their social and physical value, as well as for the pure delight 
they afford. They are better adapted than formal gymnastics 
to the needs of high-school boys and girls, and they are 
much less expensive to conduct, for they require no special 
apparatus, though it is imperative that there should be a 
good-sized room free from obstructions in which they may 
be executed. A class may pass from a recitation room 
directly into the gymnasium, and utilize fifteen or twenty 
minutes to the greatest advantage in dancing. Under the 
guidance of a good teacher any one pupil will be required 
to adjust himself in courteous relations with many of his 
classmates during the fifteen-minute drill. The entire physi- 
cal organism of the pupil will be refreshed by the experience, 
and the work of the classroom will be attacked with greater 
vim and success than if the pupil had no opportunity to 
indulge in this exquisite form of physical movement. This 
is a perfectly feasible sort of physical exercise for secondary 
schools ; and if it can be well done it will aid in controlling 
the evil to which reference has been made, — dancing the 
waltz and two-step to excess. 



344 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

In traiuing the young, conflicts frequently arise because the child, 
controlled by impulse and lacking experience, cannot appreciate the 
adult point of view. Consequently he thinks the latter's 
demands are often arbitrary and unnecessary. In all training 
the following attitudes are of primary importance : a recognition of 
the strength and naturalness of children's desires ; a firm hand in 
administering clear-cut rules of conduct ; unyielding but sympathetic 
determination to lead a hesitant or rebellious child to see the reason- 
ableness of any command without irritating him ; and an effective use 
of suggestion. 

In all training the voice and the manner of the trainer have a subtle 
power either to irritate the individual or to calm him and allure him 
into conformity with necessary rules. One's shortcomings repeatedly 
brought to his attention are likely to arouse his evil impulses, which 
tend to become established in his character. 

Mere verbal corrections are apt to be ineffective, as words alone, 
when not reinforced by bodily attitudes and the like, are usually 
incapable of restraining the child's dominant ideas, emotions, and 
motor processes. Many of the commands issued by adults never reach 
the focus of consciousness of the child, because they are given at times 
and under circumstances when the child is wholly possessed by some 
idea or enterprise in which he is engaged. In this way indifference to 
commands is often developed in children. However, with development 
words as such become loaded with meaning, and acquire the power to 
move the individual to action. In the early years, words should be 
used sparingly and other forms of expression generously in all situa- 
tions requiring discipline. 

In the administration of discipline, personality is the most important 
factor. In a " strong " personality, quality of voice, size and proportion 
of body suggesting power, and features expressive of moral purpose 
and determination are important characteristics. 

The effective teacher must possess by nature a generous amount of 
mother love, intelligent, warm-hearted sympathy, and the attribute 
of decisiveness. 

Children cannot develop properly without constant leadership. 
Companionship alone would never lift the child to the highest plane 
of development. The really effective trainer, whether parent or 
teacher, can be both a leader and a companion of his children. A 
teacher or parent who can be a " good fellow" at times, at other times 
a guide, and at still other times a disciplinarian, will accomplish much 
more in his training than one who is either always stern and " on his 
dignity " or always lax and " easy." 

In social training to-day in America we have to combat a tendency 
for the young to adopt betimes the interests, practices, and amuse- 
ments of adults. Early sophistication means early arrest in mental 



RESUME 345 

development. The elementary and the high school should be kept 
simple; adult tendencies should be eliminated. Once the assimilative 
attitude is lost in childhood, the individual's growth will be speedily- 
terminated. Dancing is one of the serious evils in the secondary-school 
period, mainly because it is not adapted to the nature and needs of 
young people. The introduction of folk dancing into the schools would 
prove of great service. 



CHAPTER XV 

METHODS OF CORRECTION 

Thus far we have spoken only of those methods of train- 
ing and of control which seek to produce proper responses 

in the child without subiectinoj him to physical 
The rod as . -r, • i • 

a means of pain. But we cannot escape commentmg on this 

correction jg^^^gj, means of government, which has played the 
leading role in all times in the correction of .juvenile errors. 
From the earliest times of which we have any record, the 
rod has been an apparently indispensable instrument of 
discipline. Scourging, flogging, castigation have been fine 
arts in their day ; and to be skillful in the use of the scu- 
tica, the bastinado, the ferule, the flagellum, the knout, the 
spatula, the birch, and similar appliances was, in an earlier 
period of human development, regarded as the highest ac- 
complishment in one who aspired to teach the young idea 
how to shoot. As late as Dickens's time the chief occupation 
of schoolmasters seemed to be chastising their pupils, and 
the methods of Dotheboys HaU were in fashion in all parts 
of the world. The prevailing conception of the schoolmaster 
in many localities to-day is as a wielder of the rod. The 
newspapers in some sections still announce gatherings of 
school-teachers in terms which indicate that their vocation 
consists chiefly in flogging youth. 

But in the evolution of the race there has been a gradual 
growth away from corporal punishment as a mode of control 
of wrong-doing. Society has found that the whipping-post, 
at least when it is not supplemented by other corrective 
agencies, does not reform juvenile offenders, as Morrison* 
and others have conclusively shown. Comparatively few pro- 
gressive countries now make use of public whipping as a 
^ See hia Juvenile Offenders. 



THE TENDENCY IN OUR OWN COUNTRY 347 

form of punishment for young criminals.^ In England, Bir- 
mingham is said still to retain the whipping-post, but it is 
claimed this city has a larger percentage of young criminals 
in proportion to its population than any other city in Eng- 
land. There are those who believe, though, that flagellation 
has played an important and beneficial role in the develop- 
ment of the English people. One hears it said occasionally 
that great Englishmen owe their eminence to their flogging 
in school as much as to anything else. However, most com- 
petent students of the subject to-day seem to attribute the 
vigor and integrity of the English character more to native 
endowment and to the training on the athletic field than to 
the virtues of the rod. 

In our own country it is probable that both theory and 
practice are inclining toward the employment of other means 
than whipping to turn the young into paths of vir- The ten- 
tue, though distinguished teachers like President 0^0^^ 
Hall still believe in the curative properties of " Dr. country 
Spankster's tonic." There are among us many men of ex- 
perience in the control of childhood and youth who agree 
with President Hall ; and there are also many who are on 
the other side. The differences of opinion, together with 
the prevailing sentiment, are seen in the following state- 
ments recently secured by the Board of Education of the 
city of New York in its discussion of corporal punishment 
as a means of correction in the schools of the metropolis. 
The statements are given as made by the writers, in order 
to show their particular experiences with the rod, and their 
reasons for retaining or abolishing it. 

^ Even in the training of animals now the rod is kept for very special 
occasions. The more intelligent animals are never " punished by chastise- 
ment"; a harsh word is enough, and the great danger is that it may prove 
too much. It is a matter requiring from the trainer a high degree of tact. 
Nor are the bolder felines whipped or clubbed to anything like the extent 
that is popularly supposed to be the case. Only when they are stubborn or 
show fight do they sufFer. " Do not punish until you have to ; then punish 
hard," is the training maxim. — Adams, " The Training of Lions, Tigers, and 
Other Great Cats," McClure's Magazine, September, 1900. 



348 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

Andre'w W. Edson, Associate Superintendent of Schools, New 
York : I do not believe that it is wise to give to principals or teachers 
the right to inflict corporal punishment upon children attending the pub- 
lic schools. It seems to me that the principal aim in school government 
is to train pupils to self-control and to prompt and willing obedience. 

Clarence E. Meleney, Associate Superintendent of Schools, New 
York : I believe that corporal punishment is not a proper means to be 
used by a teacher to control a class, to correct improper conduct, or to 
inoculate right ideals. Such means have proved inadequate wherever 
employed. The infliction of corporal punishment by a teacher tends 
to alienate the pupils, to produce antagonism and resentment, and to 
make it harder for the teacher to win the regard of the pupils and to 
command their respect for the teacher's authority. 

Ed^nrard B. Shallovr, Associate Superintendent of Schools, New 
York : I favor corporal punishment as a means of last resort with 
certain pupils not attending the schools. If a boy's conduct becomes 
intolerable in school, after all means to correct him have failed, and 
he becomes impudent to his teacher or the principal, our only way of 
correcting him now is to expel him from school, place him in a truant 
school, and support him well at public expense. There are certain chil- 
dren over whom their own parents have absolutely no control. These 
children cannot be reached by any kind of moral suasion. They do not 
know what it is to obey ; they grow up in defiance of law and order, 
and when they leave school they attempt to break laws, and only a 
policeman's club can subdue them. Would it not be better as a mea- 
sure of final resort to have a little cutaneous infliction on these fellows 
while they are in school ? 

Gustave Straubenmuller, Associate Superintendent of Schools, 
New York : I am opposed to the pedagogy of the rod, although I am 
fully conscious of a " decadence of positive authority " in all walks of 
life. Principally opposed because the rod has been done away with in 
the army, navy, most private schools, penal institutions, etc., with good 
effect on those institutions ; also for hygienic reasons. It is usually the 
weak and inexperienced teacher who resorts to the rod; the whipped 
child does not regard his wrong act as the cause of pain, but looks upon 
the teacher as the cause of punishment. 

D. L. Bardwell, District Superintendent of Schools, New York : 
All discipline from without must lead to self-control from within or 
utterly fail. Discipline by corporal punishment never leads to self-re- 
straint. The " bad boy " gets quite too many cuffs and other forms of 
corporal punishment now. The occasional case who might seem to be 
helped by corporal punishment should not stand in the way of the vastly 
greater number who would be injured by the restoration of corporal 
punishment. Corporal punishment, where resorted to, almost inva- 
riably weakens the real power and influence of the one inflicting it. 



OPINIONS OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT 349 

John J. Chickering, District Superintendent of Schools, New York: 
I believe the necessity for its actual infliction seldom arises, but when 
it does arise it should be thoroughly done by a rattan or rawhide in 
the hands of the principal. 

John W. Davis, District Superintendent of Schools, New York : 
The punishment should be inflicted by the principal, in my opinion, 
with the rattan. There is far less respect for law than there was when 
I, as a pupil, attended the schools. At that time the principals had 
authority to inflict corporal punishment. 

Edward D. Farrell, District Superintendent of Schools, New York : 
I never knew a stupid boy that improved in his lessons through the 
assistance of the rod. I never knew a bad boy that was reformed by 
the rod. It may have had an educational value or a restraining influ- 
ence, but its efficacy in these respects escaped my notice. 

John Griifin, District Superintendent of Schools, New York : It 
is the parental and natural method. The fear of punishment is the only 
deterrent that restrains a wayward child. By educational association 
the normal child acquires a habit of well-doing, but this habit is not 
instinctive. In a well-disciplined school the use of the rod would be 
very infrequent. 

Julia Richman, District Superintendent, New York : It is a retro- 
gressive step in the progress of civilization. It degrades both the pupil 
and the officer inflicting the punishment. To be effective it must be so 
severe as to run the risk of being brutal. If a deterrent, it achieves 
its purpose only through fear, and not through the development of 
self-control on the part of the pupil. 

A. T. SchaufQer, District Superintendent of Schools, New York : 
There are numerous eases of pupils whose home and street influences 
are not helpful to them, and whose only conception of authority is the 
power to punish. As the compulsory law makes it necessary for these 
pupils to be retained in the schools, if not placed in a truant school, 
effective means for securing proper respect and obedience are absolutely 
necessary. Probably not more than one in fifty of these cases would 
require the actual application of the rod ; but the fact that some one 
has the right to use it would be a sufficient deterrent from disobedi- 
ence and insubordination, 

Edgar Dubs Shimer, District Superintendent of Schools, New 
York : No. It tends to brutalize both teacher and pupil. Even in the 
training of horses blows are not permissible. 

Seth T. Stewart, District Superintendent of Schools, New York : 
A little corporal punishment would be a great blessing to many a bad 
boy. Sparing the rod will, under present conditions, spoil the city, by 
giving it gradually a large number of young desperadoes, the only 
way to reach whom would be through the much greater curse contained 
in a sentence to jail or the House of Refuge. 



350 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

Charles W. Cole, Superintendent of Schools, Albany : No. The 
decided improvement in good order in the classrooms, and the dimi- 
nution in the number of cases of discipline, as well as the clearer moral 
atmosphere of the schools, are, in my opinion and in that of the great 
majority of our principals and classroom teachers, largely due to the 
abolition of corporal punishment in the year 1892. 

"W. L. Sterling, Superintendent of Schools, Albuquerque : I do. 
In every community, so far as my experience has gone, I have found 
undisciplined children, v^ith whom no argument prevails save corporal 
punishment. 

John Morrow, Superintendent of Schools, Allegheny : Yes, when 
it is necessary. Either corporal punishment should be permitted or out- 
laws should be immediately ejected from the school. I have no sym- 
pathy whatever with the namby-pamby policy that will tolerate one 
or more unruly pupils taking the time and energy of the teacher that 
ought to be devoted to the school. The decent children have some 
right to be respected. 

William M. Slater, Superintendent of Schools, Atlanta : Yes. 
Children in the grammar schools are too young to be controlled entirely 
by reason. The home environment of many of them demands corporal 
punishment. Of course, moral suasion will prevail usually with children 
in grammar grades. 

James H. Van Sickle, Superintendent of Schools, Baltimore : 
Our teachers have become better teachers since they ceased to rely 
upon force. The best teachers have never needed to resort to corporal 
punishment. 

M. P. "White, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Boston : Yes, 
to save the boy ; to save the school ; to save the community. It should 
be used rarely and with judgment. 

James E. Bryan, Superintendent of Schools, Camden, N. J. : 
Nine years' experience with corporal punishment and nine years' ex- 
perience without have convinced me that the conditions that exist 
without it are preferable to those with it. The school has a stronger 
and higher influence, the teacher takes a higher position in the public 
mind, and the parent takes a higher view of the function of the school 
in the community. The pupil's respect for the school is likewise 
heightened. Teachers grow stronger as a better grade of ability is 
required. 

Ed-win G. Cooley, Superintendent of Schools, Chicago : Unneces- 
sary and brutal. 

F. B. Dyer, Superintendent of Schools, Cincinnati : Yes, before the 
age of adolescence. 

William H. Elson, Superintendent of Schools, Cleveland : The 
legal privilege to use it should be given. In practice it should be 
avoided, but it should not be resorted to except in rare cases of viola- 
tion of the rule governing the same. 



OPINIONS OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT 351 

C. N. Kendall, Superintendent of Schools, Indianapolis : Teachers 
should avoid corporal punishment when good discipline can be pre- 
served by milder means. 

James Q. Palmer, Superintendent of Schools, Jacksonville, Fla. : 
Yes. The majority of teachers could not control their pupils if it was 
known that no corporal punishment was allowed (speaking from my 
experience alone). 

Henry Snyder, Superintendent of Schools, Jersey City : No. Un- 
necessary. Control is better without it. Brutal. Governs by fear, not 
by love. 

M. E. Pearson, Superintendent of Schools, Kansas City, Kansas : 
No, indeed. It is not right ; it is not wise ; it is not pedagogical ; 
public opinion will not sustain it. 

E. C. Moore, Superintendent of Schools, Los Angeles : In the 
extreme cases. I believe that corporal punishment should not be 
abolished, but should not be used. It is nearing a vanishing point in 
Los Angeles. With an attendance in all of thirty-five thousand, we 
had but 254 whippings last year, and the number grows much smaller 
each year. 

E. H. Mark, Superintendent of Schools, Louisville : Yes, if pro- 
perly restricted. There are very few cases in our schools requiring the 
use of corporal punishment. As a rule this punishment is resorted to 
in too trivial cases, and many times when the one administering it is 
angry. 

Arthur K. Whitcomb, Superintendent of Schools, Lowell, Mass.: 
As permissible under some circumstances, yes. In my own work as 
master of a large grammar school I found that the right to use cor- 
poral punishment in extreme cases was a great help, but I made great 
efforts to avoid making any use of the privilege. In my last teaching 
I did not, indeed, inflict corporal punishment at all. 

H. C. Weber, Superintendent of Schools, Nashville : There comes 
a time, no matter how long deferred, when the will of the child is 
rebellious to authority and no argument seems to reach the case. It 
then becomes necessary to resort to one of two expedients, either 
corporal punishment or exclusion. 

S. S. Murphy, Superintendent of Schools, Mobile, Ala. : Yes, for 
boys. There are certain boys in every school who require punishment ; 
and corporal punishment, judiciously administered, tends to hold in 
check such pupils. 

C. Henry Kain, Associate Superintendent of Schools, Philadelphia : 
Where corporal punishment is allowed the abuses are likely to be so 
great as to overbalance any possible good that might result. There are 
reflex influences upon both teacher and pupils which are undoubtedly 
bad. No teacher or principal can administer corporal punishment to 
a pupil and then go calmly on with the regular duties of the school- 



352 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

room. The resulting disturbance of the teacher's mind must inevitably 
affect the character of the recitations which succeed. 

W. H, Brownson, Superintendent of Schools, Portland, Maine : 
In Portland we reduce corporal punishment to its lowest possible 
terms. It is used only as a last resort when other means fail. In the 
districts where we have the most unruly boys, an extreme case would 
mean either corporal punishment or expulsion from school. By the 
former we are often able to keep the boy in school two or three years 
longer than we could without it, and this seems worth while. There 
might be some teachers who could maintain discipline in such schools 
if the boys understood that they could not be whipped, but the average 
teacher would find herself unable to properly govern her pupils with- 
out resort to frequent expulsion. 

"W. H. Small, Superintendent of Schools, Providence : There are 
times in a boy's life when physical pain only seems to bring him to 
himself and his relations to others. It is at these rare times that it 
should be used. 

William F. Fox, Superintendent of Schools, Richmond, Va. : 
Yes. I believe that other means of discipline as far as practicable 
should be used, but there seems to come a time when nothing will 
answer except the rod. 

Frank B. Cooper, Superintendent of Schools, Seattle, Wash. : 
There are some cases which corporal punishment, properly adminis- 
tered, will reach, and no other means seems to be effective. 

J. A. Whiteford, Superintendent of Schools, St. Joseph, Mo. : 
Yes, for cases where other remedies will not avail. It is not a specific 
for every ill, and its use often does harm. However, it is very much 
like a well-conducted home. A father should not tell his boys that he 
dares not switch them if they need it, although he may never have 
occasion. He should not say what might happen, but leave them to 
think he is the head of the house. 

F. Louis Soldan, Late Superintendent of Instruction, St. Louis : 
In answer to your specific question : I believe it proper in exceptional 
cases where all other means have failed, and where the choice is 
between corporal punishment and driving the child out of school. 

S. L. Heeter, Superintendent of Schools, St. Paul : I do not believe 
in free-handed use of corporal punishment, and I doubt the wisdom 
of granting the privilege of corporal punishment to teachers, but 
I do believe that such privileges should be given to principals to be 
used in extreme cases. 

A. B. Blodgett, Superintendent of Schools, Syracuse, N. Y. : 
Brutalizing and unsafe. 

John J. Blair, Superintendent of Schools, Wilmington, N. C. : 
There is some penalty which should stand as a severe punishment for 
grievous offenses, such as impertinence and the offering of insult to 
a lady teacher. 



PRACTICE IN THE LARGEST CITIES 



353 



Homer P. Lewis, Superintendent of Schools, Worcester, Mass. : 
It is often less injurious in its effects than other forms of punish- 
ment. It best meets the impertinent and defiant attitude on the part 
of the pupil. Where corporal punishment is not allowed in the schools, 
in a majority of cases parents inflict corporal punishment for school 
offenses, but not so wisely as the teachers. As obedience is the chief 
virtue of the child, the discipline that best secures this is best. 

In this connection it will be of interest to examine the 
practices with respect to the use of the rod in American 
cities of over one hundred thousand inhabitants.^ 



City. 



Regulation. 



Allegheny, Pa To be avoided when obedience and good 

order can be preserved by milder mea- 
sures. Full and accurate record required 
to be kept, which at all times must be 
subject to inspection of any member of 
the board or a parent of a pupil in 
attendance. 

Baltimore, Md. . . . Forbidden. 

Boston, Mass Forbidden in high schools and kinder- 
gartens, and as to girls in any school. 
In any case, restricted to blows upon 
the hand with a rattan. Each case must 
be reported through the principal to the 
superintendent. 

Buffalo, N. Y The schools must be governed, as far as 

possible, without corporal punishment, 
special permission of the superintendent 
necessary for any other than a principal 
or an assistant principal to administer 
punishment. 

Chicago, 111 Forbidden. 

Cincinnati, Ohio . . . May not be inflicted for failures in lessons 

or recitations. Blows on head or violent 
shaking of pupils prohibited. 

Cleveland, Ohio . . . Forbidden, except in unclassified schools, 

where it is permitted when principal 
and superintendent consent. 

Columbus, Ohio . . . Allowed when all other means have failed. 

To be inflicted in schoolroom by pupil's 
teacher, the principal being the judge of 
special cases. 

Denver, Colo Teachers are required to consult with and 

to get the approval of the principal be- 
fore administering corporal punishment. 
The child's parent and the superintend- 
ent must be promptly informed by letter. 
^ See Report of U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1904, pp. 2285-2287. 



354 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 



City. 



REOUI/ATION. 



Detroit, Mich. . 
Fall River, Mass. 

Indianapolis, Ind. 



Jersey City, N. J. 
Kansas City, Mo. 



Los Angeles, Cal. 



Louisville, Ky. . 
Lowell, Mass. . 
Memphis, Tenn. 



Milwaukee, Wis. 



Minneapolis, Minn. 



Newark, N. J. . . 
New Haven, Conn. 



Must be avoided if possible. Must not be 
inflicted without full knowledge and con- 
sent of principal. 

May be inflicted when milder measures 
fail. Must not ordinarily be adminis- 
tered in presence of school. Record of 
each punishment and offense must be 
sent to superintendent for inspection of 
the board. 

Must be avoided as far as possible. May 
be inflicted only in presence of princi- 
pal, and must be immediately reported 
by him to superintendent. 

Forbidden. 

May be inflicted in cases of flagrant of- 
fenses, and then only after duly notifying 
parents or guardians of intended punish- 
ment ; and if parent or guardian will 
administer punishment, so as to preserve 
discipline of the school, teacher must 
inflict no additional punishment. Must 
not be inflicted in presence of school, 
but at the close of session and in pre- 
sence of two other teachers or the super- 
intendent. 

Must be avoided if possible ; switch or 
strap to be used ; blows upon face or 
head forbidden. 

Forbidden. 

To be inflicted only as a last resort. 

Must be avoided when good order can be 
preserved by milder measures. 

Permitted as last resort by principal only. 
Excessive punishment and lonely con- 
finement prohibited. Must not be in- 
flicted in preseliee of class. All cases 
must be reported monthly to superin- 
tendent. 

Permitted only when all other means fail. 
Principal only may inflict corporal pun- 
ishment ; then only when parents give 
written consent. Each case must be re- 
ported by principal to superintendent. 

Forbidden. 

May be administered, with consent of prin- 
cipal, in extreme cases only, but never 
at same session of school at which the 
offense was committed. Cases to be re- 
ported monthly to superintendent. 



PRACTICE IN THE LARGEST CITIES 



355 



New Orleans, La. 



New York, N. Y. 
Omaha, Nebr. . 

Paterson, N. J. 
Philadelphia, Pa. 

Pittsburg, Pa. . 
Providence, R. I. 



Rochester, N. Y. 
St. Joseph, Mo. 
St. Louis, Mo. . 



St. Paul, Minn. . . 
San Francisco, Cal. 



Scranton, Pa. 



Restricted to male pupils below high 
school, and to be administered only after 
all other means have failed. Only princi- 
pal, or assistant principal by authority 
of the former, have right to inflict. Re- 
stricted to the hands, and must not be 
inflicted in presence of class, or at time 
of offense. Monthly report to superin- 
tendent required. 

Forbidden. 

Teachers are required to govern their 
pupils by kindness and appeals to their 
nobler affections and sentiments. 

Forbidden. 

There is no rule ; but corporal punishment 
is said to have been abandoned by com- 
mon consent. 

Not forbidden, but is inflicted only in ex- 
treme cases. 

No pupil above primary liable, and in the 
latter only with written consent of 
parent or guardian. Each case must be 
reported to superintendent immediately, 
who causes an investigation to be made. 

May be inflicted in extreme cases by the 
principal or, with his consent, by an 
assistant. 

Must be avoided as far as possible. Each 
case to be reported to principal and by 
him monthly to superintendent. 
Inflicted only with consent of principal, by 
either teacher or principal, presence of 
both being required. Authorized but not 
encouraged by the board, being left 
largely to the discretion of principal. 

Forbidden, except when necessary to repel 
violence. 

May not be inflicted in the high schools or 
upon girls in any schools. It is permitted 
only in extreme cases, and may be in- 
flicted only by principals or by vice- 
principals with the consent of principals. 
Excessive punishment is prohibited, only 
a strap or a rattan being allowed. 

Forbidden except in flagrant cases of dis- 
obedience and disorder. Not to be ad- 
ministered in presence of school, but 
some other teacher or the superintend- 
ent required to be present. 



356 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 



ClTT. 



Rboulation. 



Syracuse, N. Y. 
Toledo, Ohio . , 
Washington, D. C. 



Worcester, Mass. 



Forbidden. 

Forbidden. 

Must be avoided if possible. All cases must 
be reported monthly to principal and 
through him and supervising principal 
to superintendent. 

Permitted only in extreme cases, then only 
when approved by principal or superin- 
tendent. Must not be inflicted in pre- 
sence of school. Teachers are required 
to make and keep complete records of 
all cases. 



There is a marked difference of opinion among European 
schoolmasters regarding the value of the rod as a means of 
The ten- control. In Germany, one finds corporal punish- 
oWe7'" ment in general use, at least in the elementary 
countries schools ; and the principle is recognized even in 
the secondary schools. The German teacher in every grade, 
from the kindergarten through the gymnasium, believes in 
"• strict discipline." He is not in the least sentimental in 
his attitude toward his pupils ; and if appearances can be 
relied upon, he would rather whip in cases of doubt than 
let an offender escape. The German instructor is not easily 
affected by the tears of his subjects ; indeed, he seems to 
think a certain amount of chastisement is essential to the 
proper training of a child. Spontaneity, as the term is used 
among us, is not much in evidence in a German school. 
There pupils are required to do as they are commanded, 
and not as they might choose on their own initiative. The 
German seeks to train men and women who are obedient 
and respectful toward authority, and he does not hesitate 
to crush out originality or independence among children, 
wherever it is manifested in opposition to the rules and 
regulations under which one is supposed to conduct himself. 
The German school is essentially a military institution, and 
force is relied upon as the chief means of control. 



IN ENGLAND AND IN FRANCE 357 

Until recently, the rod was much in evidence in the 
schools of England. English satirists have chosen the 
schoolmaster as the chief object of their ridicule. They 
have represented him as a tyrant, a sanguinary monster, 
eager for the blood of his helpless victims. Let one go 
through English literature dealing in any way with school 
training, and he will be impressed, and it may be oppressed, 
by the prominent place occupied by the birch and the cane 
as instruments of education. In descriptions of school- 
rooms, the only apparatus mentioned often are the ferule 
and the rod. But the times are changing, Dickens and 
others drove the rod almost, though not entirely, from the 
school. It is still used on occasion, even in such institu- 
tions as Eton and Rugby ; but the schoolmasters in these 
schools say it is not necessary to resort to it often. Self- 
control and self-discipline are coming to be relied upon 
more and more largely ; and though older boys do some- 
times, in Eton for instance, flog their fags for carelessness 
or " freshness," still there is much less of this form of cor- 
rection than there was when the present system was first 
put into effect. The use of physical pain as a method of dis- 
cipline is declining, even in the hands of boys themselves. 

The general tendency to restrict the use of the rod has 
gone farther in France than in any other country, so far as 
the knowledge of the present writer extends. There corporal 
punishment is absolutely prohibited in all public schools. 
One may go into schoolrooms in that country, and note a 
large placard in the front of the room, so that it can be 
read by all the pupils, bearing the following directions 
from the Reglement des Ecoles priniaires publiques : — 

Article 17. 

Les punitions admises dans les ^coles publiques sont (the pun- 
ishments allowed in the public schools are) : — 

1. Les mauvais points. (Demerit marks.) 

2. La rdprimande. (Reproof.) 



358 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

3. La privation partielle de la r^cr^ation. (Partial loss of re- 
cesses.) 

4. La retenue apres la classe du soir. (Detention after school.) 

5. L'imposition d'un court devoir suppl^mentaire dans 1^, fa- 
mille. (The assignment of short tasks, supplementary to the regu- 
lar school work, to be done at home.) 

6. L'exclusion de trois jours au plus sous la seule responsabilit^ 
du Directeur de I'dcole. Avis en sera donnd a la famille et a I'ln- 
specteur primaire. (The Director of the School may suspend the 
pupil for three days at most, notice of this to be sent to the par- 
ents and the inspector of elementary schools.) 

Dans le cas d'inconduite notoire, cette peine pourra gtre port^e 
de trois h huit jours avec I'assentiment de I'lnspecteur pri- 
maire. Avis en sera donnd a la mairie et aux parents. (In the 
case of serious misconduct, suspension from school " May be ex- 
extended " from three to eight days, with the consent of the in- 
spector of primary schools, notice to this effect to be sent to the 
parents and the mayor.) 

Article 18. 
II est absolument interdit d'infliger aucun chatiment corporel. 
(Corporal punishment is absolutely forbidden). 

When one asks the Frencli schoolmasters whether the 
pupils, knowing they cannot be punished severely, do not 
lake advantage of their teachers, he is told that no diffi- 
culty has been experienced from this source thus far. '^ We 
try to be fathers to our children," they say, " and our pu- 
pils appreciate it. When we cannot use the rod we find 
other means of control. We would not return to corporal 
punishment even if we were given the right so to do. Our 
pupils are much happier now than they were of old, when 
the rod was depended upon almost wholly in the discipline 
of pupils." 

Now, it may be instructive to compare the conduct of 
French and German pupils in the schools. One difference 
between them will be readily apparent to aiiy observer. 
There is a great deal more spontaneity among tbe French 
children, but the German children have a much more seri- 



RESULTS IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 359 

ous attitude toward their work. French schoolmasters find 

it necessary frequently to ask for the attention of „. 

. ^ '' , . . The results 

their pupils, and to caution them against disturb- of experi- 

ing their classmates. But rarely does one hear a European 
German teacher ask for attention, or exhort pupils ""^^'^^^ 
to " behave themselves," or to apply themselves to their 
tasks, and the like. From the beginning of his school life 
the German child is made to feel that if he errs he will pay 
the penalty therefor in dermal pain, and this seems to make 
him eager to conform completely to the rules of the school. 
It is probable that the French schools would be somewhat 
more effective if they had a little of the German rigor of 
discipline; not too much of it, but enough to make pupils 
feel the need of applying themselves more faithfully to the 
tasks appropriate to the school. On the other hand, the Ger- 
man system seems to be lacking in that it crushes individ- 
uality and initiative, and it does not develop in pupils, taken 
as a whole, the ability to control themselves effectively when 
they escape from authority. In the universities all govern- 
ment of pupils from without is abandoned ; each student 
may do as he chooses. Unfortunately the majority, perhaps, 
do not choose to apply themselves to university duties in an 
earnest, effective manner. In no institutions anywhere ap- 
parently are students more given to dissipation and riot- 
ous living than they are in these German universities, most 
of the members of which have been put through a rigorous 
system of training for from twelve to fifteen years. Probably 
the students at the Sorbonne, trained under a lax system of 
discipline, are as capable of controlling themselves and ap- 
plying themselves to serious work as are the German students 
trained under a rigid military system. It would seem that, 
after all, the rod, whether extensively used as it is in some 
places, or prohibited as it is in others, is not the chief factor 
(though it doubtless plays a part) in determining self-control. 
To return to the prevailing practice in our own country, 
while we may rejoice heartily in all that has been achieved 



360 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

in liberating childhood from the bondage of the rod, it is 
Is the pen- still possible that we have erred in thinking that 
swinging ^^® young react to coercion and corporal punish- 
too far ment as an adult does, and so that physical pain 
country? ought never to be employed as a means of control. 
One who in an unprejudiced spirit observes the child in all 
his daily struggles to adapt himself to the world, comes inev- 
itably to believe that he is happiest when he concludes that 
he should yield without protest to the guidance of those wiser 
than he. When he persists in his own way, which is unhap- 
pily the way of darkness in considerable part,^ — the philoso- 
phy of Froebel and Dickens to the contrary notwithstand- 
ing, — he finds himself in constant antagonism to his social 
environment. In the end, of course, he must fall into line or 
be ruled out altogether ; but when his trainers take too senti- 
mental a view of their duty, he is likely not to learn the 
lesson of ready compliance with rightful authority until it is 
too late. Unless the child has the experience and inhibition 
of the adult, he cannot be intrusted with adult freedom, in 
the sense that he can ignore authority, speaking now from 
the standpoint of his own welfare. The really happy child, 
after all, is the one who accepts his elders as his experience, 

^ Spencer makes this point strong in his educational philosophy. " Why- 
is education needed at all ? " he asks in Social Statics, pp. 207, 208. " Why 
does not the child grow spontaneously into a normal human being ? 
Why should it be requisite to curb this propensity, to stimulate the other 
sentiment, and thus by artificial aids to mould the mind into something dif- 
ferent from -what it would of itself become ? ... It is an indisputable fact 
that the moral constitution which fitted man for his original predatory state 
differs from the one needed to fit him for this social state, to which multi- 
plication of the race has led. . . . The law of adaptation is effecting a tran- 
sition from the one constitution to the other. Living then, as we do, in the 
midst of this transition, we must expect to find sundry phenomena which are 
explicable only upon the hypothesis that humanity is at present partially 
adapted to both these states, and not completely to either — has only in a de- 
gree lost the disposition needed for savage life, and has but imperfectly ac- 
quired those needed for social life. . . . The selfish squabbles of the nursery, 
the persecution of the playground, the lyings and petty thefts, the rough 
treatment of inferior creatures, the propensity to destroy — these imply that 
tendency to pursue gratification at the expense of* other beings which quali- 
fied man for the wilderness, and which disqualified him for civilized life." 



THE TREATMENT OF OBSTINACY 361 

and acquiesces readily in their suggestions. If they are per- 
fect in wisdom, and guide, not repress him, then will his hap- 
piness be perfect. But even if their vision be obscured in 
many ways, it is still best that he should readily follow their 
leading. The first lesson which is taught the young of any 
species of animal life is to do instantly what they are told 
to do by their elders, who chastise them if they do not obey. 
This seems a hardship at the moment, but it is a blessing 
in the long run, for without it survival would be impossible. 
But suppose the child refuses to follow the leading of 
authority ; what then ? This problem gave Locke, as it has 

given most trainers of the younff, more trouble 

1 TT HP- 1 . . Thetreat- 

than any other. He could forgive every deviation ment oi 

from conventional conduct in a child except ob- ° ^ ^"^ 

stinacy ; but this he regarded as a grievous sin, that in the 

last resort must be cudgeled out of the child. His childish 

errors may be overlooked ; there is no need to rate and vex 

him about his manners, they will take care of themselves ; 

age alone will cure these faults.' But if he be obstinate, 

beat him ; use the rod until you break his will. There is no 

middle ground ; you must get the upper hands of your child. 

Rousseau condemned Locke's doctrine, and the followers of 

1 " Nothing but Obstinacy should meet with any Imperiousness or rough 
Usage. All other Faults should be corrected with a gentle Hand ; and kind 
engaging Words will work better and more effectually upon a willing Mind, 
and even prevent a good deal of that Perverseness which rough and impe- 
rious Usage often produces in well-disposed and generous Minds. 'T is true, 
Obstinacy and wilful Neglects must be mastered, even though it cost Blows 
to do it : But I am apt to think Perverseness in the Pupils is often the Effect 
of Frowardness in the Tutor ; and that most Children would seldom have de- 
served Blows, if needless and misapplied Roughness had not taught them 
Ill-nature, and given them an Aversion for their Teacher and all that comes 
from him. 

" Inadvertency, Forgetf ulness, Unsteadiness, and Wandering of Thought, 
are the natural Favdts of Childhood ; and therefore, where they are not ob- 
served to be wilful, are to be mention'd softly, and gain'd upon by Time. If 
every slip of this kind produces Anger and Rating, the Occasion of Rebuke 
and Corrections will return so often, that the Tutor will be a constant Ter- 
ror and Uneasiness to his Pupils. Which one thing is enough to hinder their 
profiting by his Lessons, and to defeat all his Methods of Instruction." — 
Locke, Education, Quick, p. 144. 



362 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

Froebel regard it as cruel and inhuman. This seems to be a 
matter again of sentiment largely, — the interpretation of 
childish feeling from the adult standpoint. The experiences 
of unbiased parents and teachers, together with studies 
like those of Barnes and Darrah ^ upon children's views of 
punishment, lead one to think that they often regard whip- 
ping as the just and reasonable penalty for certain misdeeds. 
If it be plainly merited it probably does not crush the spirit 
of the offender, as the philosopher sitting in his armchair 
and working with preconceived premises sometimes reasons 
that it will. The administration of physical pain for insub- 
ordination is not regarded by children as the adult would 
regard it if it were inflicted upon him; and if a child is in 
continual conflict with his social environment because he 
insists on doing what in the nature of things he cannot do, 
and day after day there is verbal contest between himself 
and those who are responsible for his well-being, then would 
it not be better for all concerned occasionally to have the 
question of leadership definitely settled by the application 
of force if necessary ? 

It will not require much argument to convince any reader 
that it is not wise to use the same methods of correction 
Methods and exhortation with all pupils indiscriminately, 
varied to Take, for example, the case of the boy in the first 
"id^^ i"*^'" g^'^'i^, say, who has always " had his own way." 
cuiiarities His thoughts, his feelings, his very muscles have 
become surcharged with the autocratic temper. His experi- 
ences have given him no data for interpreting an order of 
things where he must follow instead of lead, and he must 
begin ah initio in learning this lesson. Of course, the teacher 
cannot expect that he will at once respond appropriately to 
his requests, as will the boy who has been trained in obedi- 
ence in his home, and who has gained facility in carrying 
commands out into appropriate conduct. No one but a 
strong, capable person, and a patient one as well, can induce 
^ See Studies in Education, two volumes, edited by Barnes. 



VARIED METHODS OF CONTROL 363 

tlie bully to assume a reasonably docile attitude in the 
schoolroom. It will take time to accomplish this, and there 
will be frequent backsliding on the part of the offender, for 
his original attitudes of resistance and domineering will not 
easily be overcome. The wise teacher will not be discour- 
aged in his task of breaking in the untrained colt, nor will 
he let his anger get the better of him, for he will realize 
that the offender is really not at fault. No one, boy or man, 
can in an instant will his past out of his desires and im- 
pulses, nor can he will all at once a wholly new attitude or 
quality into his feelings and expressions. 

Fortunately, the teacher has an opportunity deeply to 
impress the child when he first enters school, for he is then 
in a more or less plastic condition in respect to his attitude 
toward the new order. Even if he has been a bully in his 
home, he may usually be made, without the use of harsh 
means, to feel the importance and the dignity of the order 
and rules of the school, and this appreciation will lead 
easily to the attitude of docility. One may often see boys 
who dominate over every one in their homes, but who are 
as humble and respectful in the school as one could wish. 
However, the right start must be made. From the very 
beginning pupils must be impressed with everything per- 
taining to the school. If an attitude of indifference or disre- 
spect be acquired at the outset, it will be difficult, if at all 
possible, to establish a different attitude later. 

It is probably within the bounds of fact to say that men 
have always felt that force and coercion applied in some 
manner is necessary in order to insure the devel- control by 
opment of right social attitudes in the young, ^^^^fj^^ 
Persistent nonconformists must have serious, or auences" 
even painful, experiences occasionally, which will impress 
upon them the difference between right and wrong, and the 
necessity of choosing the former. But how are these expe- 
riences to be gained ? As we have seen, this is the question 
which has troubled educationists since Plato's day. The 



364 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

plan indorsed by Locke, Rousseau, Spencer, and others is 
most nearly in accord witli contemporary feeling, — that a 
child must be made to realize clearly that social conduct 
will increase his happiness, while ill-will toward his fellows, 
selfishness, and disobedience will diminish his pleasures and 
augment his pains. Out of this conception has grown the 
doctrine of the discipline of " natural consequences." Arbi- 
trary punishment often fails of its end, it is said, because 
the offender does not look upon his penalties as the inevi- 
table result of his misdeeds. When a child strikes his finger 
with a hammer he is not in doubt regarding the relation of 
cause and effect in this instance, and consequently he is on 
his guard to prevent a repetition of the event. But when 
he plays truant and is some time later whipped for it, he 
may think that his punishment is due to the ill temper and 
the injustice of his teacher, or that it is an accidental affair, 
and would not have occurred with another teacher or under 
other conditions. So he will try it again when the situation 
is altered ; the punishment seeming to him capricious, he 
will take chances with it when the conditions change. And, 
too, when the boy is always whipped for certain kinds of 
wrong-doing, he is apt to reach the conclusion that every- 
thing for which he is not whipped is permissible ; and so 
he gains little if any appreciation of the corrective forces 
that alone are effective in mature life. If as a man he is 
selfish and people treat him accordingly, though he be not 
whipped, he will be likely to think himself abused. He can- 
not connect causes and effects in much of his conduct, be- 
cause during his plastic years he was not practiced in this 
subtle art. He is quite incapable of detecting the very in- 
tricate ways in which his deeds return upon him, and so 
experience teaches him little which can be of service to him 
in mending his errors. He does not ascribe his social mis- 
fortunes to his own shortcomings ; instead he thinks some- 
thing is wrong with the world. It is too late for him when 
he reaches maturity to acquire the habit of tracing natural 



CONTROL BY NATURAL CONSEQUENCES 365 

consequences in behavior ; rather he will be inclined to 
spend his time complaining at the injustice of men if they 
oppose his imdertakings. 

Rousseau would permit no direct expression of repres- 
sive, coercive, or punitive authority in the training of the 
child. The latter should stand in awe or in fear of nothing 
but the inevitable consequences of his actions. No one 
should ever command or forbid him ; let him learn what is 
right through experience, which, as Rousseau thought of 
it, excludes the indignation even of his elders. The kinder- 
garten has apparently indorsed this principle, and has given 
it standing among many people. Every child, say some of 
the interpreters of Froebel, possesses a spark of divinity, 
and no adult has the right to quench it by the exercise of 
autocratic authority. 

But those who think in the spirit of modern thought 
doubt the possibility or the wisdom of letting the child at- 
tempt to learn the whole of the social law without „ 
authority to coerce him at times. If the principle fectsin 
of control by natural consequences, as Rousseau °^^ 
and Spencer ^ expound it, were the only one followed in the 
training of the young child, he would surely be destroyed 

^ The following statement from Spencer indicates his view of the exercise 
of authority over the child. " The power of self-government," he says, " like 
all other powers, can be developed only by exercise. Whoso is to rule his 
passions in maturity, must be practiced in ruling over his passions during 
youth. Observe, then, the absurdity of the coercive system. Instead of habit- 
uating a boy to be a law to himself as he is required in after life to be, it 
administers the law for him. Instead of preparing him against the day when 
he shall leave the paternal roof, by inducing hira to fix the boundaries of 
his actions and voluntarily confine himself within them, it marks out these 
boundaries for him, and says, ' cross them at your peril.' Here we have a 
being who, in a few years, is to become his own master, and, by way of fit- 
ting him for such a condition, he is allowed to be his own master as little 
as possible. Whilst in every other particular it is thought desirable that 
what the man will have to do, the child should be well drilled in doing, in 
this most important of all particulars — the controlling of himself — it is 
thought that the less practice he has the better. No wonder that those who 
have been brought up under the severest discipline should so frequently turn 
out the wildest of the wild. Such a result is just what might have been 
looked for." — Social Statics, pp. 20G, 207. 



366 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

before he could reach the point where he could recognize 
causes and effects in conduct, and govern himself accord- 
ingly. Rousseau and his disciples have apparently failed to 
take due account in their theories of the fact that a prin- 
ciple of social training which may be serviceable in the 
education of a child of eleven may be, and is likely to be, 
utterly useless if not vicious when applied to the infant in 
arms. The child of maturer years has gained some insight 
into the connections between actions and their outcome 
upon his welfare ; that is, he can trace the connections be- 
tween what he does and what happens to him " naturally " 
as a result thereof. But it is altogether different with the 
infant ; his vision for matters of this sort extends only an 
arm's length ; he cannot see the relation between misdeeds 
and their " natural" consequences except in the simple and 
more obvious instances. He can doubtless make some sort 
g^ connection between his destroying his mother's china, for 
instance, and the dermal stimulation administered by her 
immediately thereafter ; but if some time later his mother 
refuses to give him food because he has broken his dishes, 
his piece-meal mind will not be apt to trace the desired 
relation between the previous wrong act and the present 
unhappy consequence. He will be more apt to think that 
his mother is mean or freaky. 

After all, correction of wrong action by the parent or 
the teacher or the policeman is " natural " punishment, for 
There- ^^® representatives of law and order have to be 

sponsesto reckoned with when we are considering; the con- 

the child's c i i t • 

advances oi sequences of deeds, it is surely " natural " for a 

sentauves mother to be indignant when her china is heed- 

ofiawand lessly or purposely broken, and to take steps to 

properly prevent anything of the sort occurring again. Of 

conse- course, there is danger that the parent will not 

quences" administer the moral law as uniformly or wisely 

as nature does the physical law, but this does not affect the 

principle. The sorrow, or indignation, or even punitive reac- 



ATTITUDE OF THE PARENT AND TEACHER 367 

tion of one in authority, occasioned by the misdeed of a 
child, is a sign to the latter that he must change his course, 
or at least be more circumspect in his conduct. In his early 
years he does not raise the question of justice or arbitrari- 
ness when he is corrected for his errors ; he simply concludes 
therefrom how he should carry himself in the future, just as 
when he burns his finger on the stove he decides " naturally " 
to avoid the source of his trouble on all occasions. This in 
principle is all he cares for or is capable of appreciating 
during his first few years. What can I do with safety ? is 
the question ever on his lips ; and whatever brings no serious 
pain of any kind, so far as can be discerned, is allowable, 
while all else must be guarded against, or abandoned com- 
pletely. 

Viewed from the evolutionary standpoint, the parent and 
teacher were conserved to direct the child in his immaturity 
and helplessness. They are simply wisdom stored up for him, 
and put at his disposal, while he is gaining wisdom for him- 
self ; and the child should properly regard them in just this 
light. "^ It is as though in obeying them he abides by the 
verdict of his own experience, when it commands him to do 
this deed and not to do that one. The right relation between 
trainer and pupil will develop this attitude of confidence and 
obedience on the part of the latter. This relation, though, 

^ It is possible that some of us are carrying the theory of self-activity too 
far in these days. Those in authority ought not to be continually asking 
young children whether they want to do this or that or the other thing. In- 
fants ought not to be required to make their own judgments in reference to 
many of the things in daily life. The teacher or parent ought to go ahead on 
the assumption that certain things should be done, and there is no need of 
asking questions about them. The governor should study the temperament 
of the child in order to ascertain his likes and dislikes, and these should be 
respected. If a child does not like bread, for example, the adult ought not to 
force bread upon him ; nor ought he to ask at every meal, " Will you have 
bread ? " This gives the child too much importance. It places government 
in his hands before he is ready to govern. At his stage of development it is 
easier and more natural for him to have things determined for him in some 
part. There need be no arbitrary authority in this. It is not necessary for 
the adult to say, " You must do this or that or the other thing." There is a 
median course which the wise trainer will pursue. 



368 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

will continue only during the early years. It is but a make- 
shift; for in due course the discipline of natural conse- 
quences will become operative, and then the function of the 
guardian will be simply to help the child to see straight in 
his social relations, so that he may connect together causes 
and effects that are quite remote from one another in time, 
and that do not seem to be causally related. 

Corporal punishment, once the chief means of correction, is being 
superseded by other modes of control, though there are still- distin- 
guished educators who believe in the value of the rod, at 
least on occasions. In Germany, the aim in the training of 
the young is to secure obedience and respect for authority, and corporal 
punishment is freely used. In England, self-control and self-discipline 
in childhood and youth are being relied on more and more, and the use 
of force in discipline is declining, though it has not entirely disappeared 
yet. In France, corporal punishment is absolutely prohibited in the 
public schools. 

The German schools repress initiative and spontaneity almost wholly. 
But they do not develop a high type of self-control. On the other hand, 
the French method fails to secure effective work from children, such as 
one sees in Germany. The youth of France seem to be as well con- 
trolled, however, and as serious and earnest as the German youth. It 
is probable that the rod does not play a really vital role in developing 
self-control in maturity. 

The child is undoubtedly happiest when he learns early that he must 
yield without protest to the guidance of those wiser than himself. Not 
until the individual has the experience and has developed the inhibitions 
of the adult can he be intrusted with adult freedom. 

Obstinacy and insubordination may require the application of force 
as a corrective ; although on this point men differ greatly in their 
views. Plato would use the rod rather freely, it seems; Quintilian 
would never strike a child ; Locke would employ it to cure obstinacy, 
but not otherwise ; Rousseau has no confidence whatever in any form 
of physical force as a means of control; Froebel would substitute love, 
sympathy, gentleness for the rod ; and Spencer regards corporal pun- 
ishment as arbitrary and ineffective. In our country we are tending 
away from the use of the rod in the home and in the school. 

Methods of correction and coercion must be varied to suit individual 
peculiarities. One child may be injured permanently by corporal pun- 
ishment, while another may receive marked benefit from it when it is 
administered with fairness, and for plain wrong-doing. On entering 
school the child is usually in a receptive mood, and the teacher can 
by appropriate methods make a deep impression upon him, and lead 



K^SUME 369 

him to assume a docile attitude toward authority. But the impression 
must be made in the beginning. 

Arbitrary punishment generally fails of attaining its end. Moreover, 
it does not lead the child to acquire the habit of tracing "natural 
consequences " in his conduct. While the child trained in accordance 
with the doctrine of natural consequences will become skillful in tracing 
the relation of cause and eJGfect in his actions, nevertheless the method 
is of value only to a limited extent with young children, before they 
can appreciate actions and their " natural " effects, and conduct them- 
selves appropriately. 

The young child does not ordinarily raise the question of justice or 
arbitrariness in his corrections ; but from the outcome of his action in 
the present he learns how to conduct himself in the future. From the 
evolutionary standpoint the parent and the teacher have been conserved 
to direct the child during his immaturity and helplessness, and their 
attitudes toward his conduct must be reckoned among the " natural 
consequences " of his behavior. 



CHAPTER XVI 

SUGGESTION 

The reader who has gone through the preceding two chap- 
ters has doubtless remarked the importance which has been 

given to resistant, coercive, and punitive measures 
The general ° '. . . / 

character of — to opartan traming — m the early stages of 
sugges on g^^jg^j education. He may have felt that compul- 
sion was assigned too prominent a place in those chapters ; 
but if so, he cannot have failed to see the reasons why force 
has been thought to be essential at times. The child comes 
among us equipped with impulses, many of which alienate 
him from his present social environment ; and it is the busi- 
ness of training, when imperative, to compel him, for the 
welfare of himself as well as of others, to restrain these ten- 
dencies, and to choose modes of conduct in harmony with 
contemporary customs and institutions. But granting the 
necessity of the child's being led to adjust himseK in con- 
gruent relations with the existing social order, can this be 
accomplished in the majority of cases in some more agree- 
able and successful way than by the employment of concrete 
rewards and pains and penalties ? In considering the ques- 
tion, we must first glance at an important principle of modern 
psychology, — the principle of suggestion, — the tendency 
of an individual to act in conformity with or in opposition 
to ideas abruptly thrust into consciousness from without, or 
in certain cases from within. In another connection ^ the 
author has shown that, in the view of contemporary psy- 
chologists, conscious processes always have motor accom- 
paniments. Some present-day scientists go so far as to say 
that ideas are really part motor; or what amounts to the 
same thing, that every idea has a motor aspect. Whether 
^ In Dynamic Factors in Education, chaps, i-iii. 



GENERAL CHARACTER OF SUGGESTION 371 

this view in all its implications can be successfully defended 
is not appropriate for us to discuss here ; but it is important 
to appreciate the fact, for fact it seems to be, that in child- 
hood an idea, using the term in the popular sense, tends to 
find ready expression in correlated motor actions, no matter 
how the idea gains entrance to consciousness.^ The young 
child is a sort of reflex of the stimulations that play upon him 
from the environment in which he is placed at any time. 
There is little if any unity in his conduct, except when his 
environment is uniform, so that he does not receive sug- 
gestions which induce a variety of disconnected activities. 
The adult can, in a measure at any rate, ignore stimulations 
from his environment which are not congruous with a domi- 
nating purpose, or in harmony with the trend of his action 
at any moment ; but it is otherwise with the child, who has 
not established well-integrated series of ideas and actions 
which will prevent him from responding to chance sugges- 
tions that may come to him without order or method. This 
opportunity may be taken to observe that in a sense char- 
acter, as we ordinarily use the term, means the sum of these 
habitual sequences in ideas and actions which make an in- 
dividual's conduct, whatever it may be, uniform and con- 
sistent ; qualities which the child's behavior lacks in large 
measure, except as his instinctive tendencies are for a period 
uniform and consistent. 

Let us here glance at the natural history, as it were, of a 
typical act of suggestion in childhood. In the first The natural 
place, the child consciously or deliberately makes ^^aoToi* 
an adjustment to a situation, — a person, a word, suggestion 

^ Compare the following : " It is a familiar principle that attention to the 
thought of a movement tends to start that very movement. I defy any of my 
readers to think hard and long of winking the left eye, and not have an almost 
irresistible impulse to wink that eye. There is no better way to make it diffi- 
cult for a child to sit still than to tell him to sit still ; for your words fill up 
his attention, as I have occasion to say above, with the thought of the move- 
iqents, and these thoughts bring on the movements, despite the best inten- 
tions of the child in the way of obedience." — Baldwin, The Story of the Mind, 
p. 180. 



372 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

a dog, a hot stove, or what not. If this adjustment, whether 
it be of a positive or of a negative character, proves of some 
advantage to the individual, in his own estimation, he will 
tend to repeat it whenever he is placed in the particular 
situation in which it originated. Gradually upon repetition 
the adjustment will be made subconsciously, and it will tend 
always so to occur on the proper stimulus being presented, 
unless there becomes associated with it a stimulus or sug- 
gestion which operates to restrain it,^ by inciting an act con- 
trary to it, or by withdrawing the attention from it on to 
some different action. To give a simple illustration : V. is 
reading by my side. Without addressing him directly, I say, 
" I think I will go out on the lawn and play ball for a while." 
Instantly he drops his book, and finds his way without hesi- 
tation to bat and balls, and then to the lawn. The entire 
proceeding seems to be almost, if not quite, automatic with 
him. The words " lawn " and " play ball " serve mainly to 
release the motor processes which have become connected 
through past function with this particular stimulus. This 
very simple instance is typical of what is occurring con- 
stantly in the life of the average child, and to some extent 
in the life of the adult. The following incident illustrates 
the principle, though in a rather extreme form : — 

E. W. Sabel, in the Saturday Evening Post, tells an anecdote 
of Frederick Villiers, the famous war correspondent. VilHers had 
been under fire for some days, the enemy bombarding the force 
to which the artist was attached, so that the arrival of a shell was 
a commonplace circumstance, to he treated in the usual way. Out 
of this ordeal he came unscathed to London, and was strolling down 
the crowded Strand. 

On a sudden the pedestrians were appalled to see him fling him- 

^ Compare the following : Here, as elsewhere, the conscious energy of past 
function becomes the unconscious mechanism of present function, which, 
thereupon is able to work without attention and almost without exertion ; 
will loses its character, so to speak, in attaining to its unconscious perfection ; 
and meanwhile the free, unattached path-seeking consciousness and will, that 
are, as it were, the pioneers and perf ecters of progress, are available to initiate 
new and to perfect old functions. — Maudsley, Body and Will, p. 93. 



THE PRINCIPLE OF SUGGESTION 373 

self at full length upon the greasy, muddy pavement, and there lie 
on his face rigid as a dead man. From all directions men rushed 
to render him assistance. They turned him over to rub his hands 
and unbutton his collar, expecting to find him in a fit. But no. 
On his face they found not the pain and pallor of epilepsy, but 
astonishment and mud. Villiers, when they laid hold of him, 
quickly jumped to his feet, shook the mud from his hands and 
clothes, and then looked round for an explanation of his own ap- 
parently idiotic act. The explanation was forthcoming. 

A few yards behind him stood a horse and cart. The carter had 
a moment after Villiers passed pulled the pin and allowed the 
cart-box to dump upon the ground a load of gravel. The heavy 
beams of the cart, of course, struck the wood paving with a re- 
sounding " dull thud," and the clean gravel hissed out with an 
evil roar. This combination of sounds, the war artist declared, was 
identical with the striking of a live shell, and Villiers, forgetting 
that he then stood some thousands of miles from the seat of war, 
flung himself down to wait the dreadful explosion.^ 

W^ithout attempting to discuss the psychology of sugges- 
tion in all its phases, we may here say simply that the prin- 
ciple which is of chief importance to us at this The prinoi- 
point may be stated thus : any percept or image ^^°°} ™^" 
of an act, which becomes focal in the child's con- stated 
sciousness, tends automatically to produce the act if he has 
previously performed it or anything resembling it closely. 
It is hardly necessary, perhaps, to add the qualification, 
"which becomes focal," for a percept or image of an act 
cannot become focal in attention until it has been exe- 
cuted, at least spontaneously .2 So whatever is attended to 
that relates to action is likely to induce, or rather, sug- 
gest that action. If, then, one should wish a child to crow 
in imitation of a rooster, say, the proper way to proceed 
would be to turn his attention strongly on to this act, by 
the use either of words, of pictures, or of concrete ex- 
amples. If this should be a wholly new act to the child, 

1 Thorndike, The Human Nature Club, p. 199. 

2 See the author's Dynamic Factors in Education, chap, vi, where the 
principle touched upon here is developed in detail. 



374 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

he could not gain either a percept or an image of it by' 
hearing words describing it or even by looking at a picture 
of a crowing rooster. But he could probably gain a more or 
less adequate and efficient percept by looking at or hearing 
some one else perform the act. If there should be onlook- 
ers, his attention might be distracted, so that the percept 
could not become focal. If the child had been forbidden to 
perform this act, or punished or laughed at for doing it,, 
the revival of these experiences would tend to restrain him 
now, since they would prevent the act in question from be- 
coming freely and clearly focal in consciousness. Besides, 
the inception of this act would tend to arouse the associated 
acts produced by ridicule and whipping or admonition, and 
the individual would at least stand a chance of acting in 
the direction of these latter suggestions, which in effect 
inhibit the first ones. If the circumstances of the moment 
tended to weaken the perception of the act in question, 
and strengthen some experience already registered in con- 
sciousness, the latter and not the former would be likely 
to determine the individual's conduct. We here catch a 
glimpse, but only a glimpse, of the complexity of the 
problem of suggestion ; it is as complex as consciousness 
itself. In a way, consciousness is simply the sum of the 
suggestions to actions which an individual has accumulated 
since birth ; and while the tendency of all these is, under 
appropriate conditions, to find realization in associated ac- 
tion, it is manifestly impossible for this to happen in every 
case, since some of them are certain to antagonize and often 
to neutralize one another. 

It would, of course, require several volumes to describe 
exactly the psychological conditions under which particular 
suggestions will issue in action, or be checked in their 
dynamogenic tendencies ; how a suggestion will take effect 
with an individual at one time and not at another ; why a 
suggestion made to a group of children will be carried out 
by some and not by others, and so on. But as our present 



THE INFLUENCE OF PERSONALITY 375 

purpose is a practical one purely, we may proceed without 
further analysis to lay down some rules for the use of sug- 
gestion as it is involved in the simpler phases at least of 
social education. 

To begin with, personality is the most potent factor in 
suggestion affecting social conduct, especially during the pe- 
riod of childhood. Every expression of features, Tho infiu- 
quality of voice, bodily attitude, and the like, in goodor'iii 
the teacher, the parent, the governess, or the play- °* ^^ ^^^' 
mate, constitutes a more or less powerful sug- the trainer 
gestion to the child, and tends to determine his action in 
accordance therewith. This is less marked in youth, and 
still less in maturity, than it is in the earliest years, when 
the individual is relatively very plastic ; but it holds true 
to some extent in every age. In his " Essay on the Alchemy 
of Influence," Drummond expresses the principle, with a 
measure of poetic license, when he says : — 

No man can meet another on the street without making some 
mark upon him. We say we exchange words when we meet ; 
what we exchange is souls. And when intercourse is close and 
very frequent, so complete is this exchange that recognizable 
bits of one soul begin to show in the other's nature, and the sec- 
ond is conscious of a familiar and growing debt to the first. 

It is the Law of Influence that we become like those whom we 
habitually admire. Through all the range of literature, of his- 
tory, of biography, this law presides. Men are all mosaics of 
other men. There is a savor of David about Jonathan, and a 
savor of Jonathan about David. Jean Valjean, in the master- 
piece of Victor Hugo, is Bishop Bienvenu risen from the dead. 
Metempsychosis is a fact. George Eliot's message to the world 
was that men and women make men and women. The Family, 
the cradle of mankind, has no meaning apart from this. Society 
itself is nothing but a rallying point for these omnipotent forces 
to do their work. On the doctrine of influence, in short, the 
whole vast pyramid of humanity is built.^ 

1 The following from Holmes seems in the main true to human nature : 
" A certain involuntary adjustment assimilates us, you may also observe, to 
that upon which we look. Roses redden the cheeks of her who stoopa to 



376 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

The practical word to be spoken here is, that if we could 
place our children in schools or homes where social conduct 
would be constantly under their observation ; where fair 
play, sympathy, good-will, good cheer, and cooperation 
would be positive, dynamic, and never wavering, they would 
go far by themselves in adopting these as their own rule of 
life. Give us for our children well-mannered, generous, 
honest companions, and thoroughly socialized parents and 
teachers, say present-day students of human development, 
and we will not pay great heed to what they are taught in 
a formal way in text-books, or whether they are so taught 
at all. " It has appeared to me," says one of the observers 
of human nature,^ "that some of the most nutritive and 
effective functions of an instructor are really performed 
while he seems least to be instructing." It sounds rather 
commonplace to say that a trainer who is himself weak in 
his social relation cannot make children efficient in these 
relations, no matter what formal methods of instruction in 
morals or ethics or other subjects he employs, or how much 
theory of teaching he has mastered. Our chief concern, 
then, in social education should be to keep the child in 
association with people who in their own demeanor express 
dynamically the attitudes we wish to develop in him. The 
boy will be no better than his hero, but he will endeavor to 

gather them, and buttercups turn little people's chins yellow. When we 
look at a vast landscape, our chests expand as if we would enlarge to fill 
it. When we examine a minute object, we naturally contract, not only our 
foreheads, but all our dimensions. If I see two men wrestling, I wrestle 
too, with my limbs and features. When a country-fellow comes upon the 
stage, you will see twenty faces in the boxes putting on the bumpkin expres- 
sion. There is no need of multiplying instances to reach this generalization : 
every person and thing we look upon puts its special mark upon us. If this 
is repeated often enough, we get a permanent resemblance to it, or, at least, 
a fixed aspect, which we took from it. Husband and wife come to look 
alike at last, as has often been noticed. It is a common saying of a jockey, 
that he is ' all horse ' ; and I have often fancied that milkmen get a stifE, 
upright carriage, and an angTilar movement of the arm, that remind one of 
a pump and the working of its handle." — The Professor at the Breakfast 
Table, p. 196. 
* Huntington, Unconscious Tuition, p. 5. 



THE SUGGESTION OF EVIL 377 

be just as good in all that he regards as essential. It is a 
simple matter of e very-day experience that often, when one 
is placed in an important social situation to which automatic 
adjustment has not been acquired, his action is shaped by 
the conception he has of how his model would conduct him- 
self under similar circumstances. That is to say, one's 
model really determines in large part his social apprecia- 
tion, his conscience, and his will; and this is why it is 
imperative that we should have in the schoolroom socially 
strong, efficient men and women, who have a delicate and 
sane sense of what is right and best in the varied situations 
of daily living, and who have organized their perceptions 
into vigorous conduct. 

Plato woidd not permit children to listen to stories 
which exhibit evil deeds, on the theory that what is seen or 

heard will sooner or later find realization in cor- 

The sng- 
responding action. So he denounced the drama gesuonoi 

as it existed in his day, since it presented ex- 
amples of lewdness, dishonesty, and the like, even though 
it pretended to show that these moral deformities were in 
the end punished as they deserved to be. Only what is 
morally and aesthetically pure and " wholesome should be 
exhibited before the young, for, as he says in the Repiiblic ^ 
in discussing the general principle in question, — " we would 
not have our guardians grow up amid images of moral 
deformity, as in some noxious pasture, and there browse 
and feed upon many a baneful herb and flower day by 
day, little by little, until they silently gather a festering 
mass of corruption in their own soul. Let our artists rather 
be those who are gifted to discern the true nature of beauty 
and grace ; then will our youth dwell in the land of health, 
amid fair sights and sounds ; and beauty, the effluence of 
fair works, will visit the eye and ear, like a healthful breeze 
from a purer region, and insensibly draw the soul even in 
childhood into harmony with the beauty of reason." 

1 Book 11. 



378 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

Aristotle presents a quite different view, in respect to 
the function of the drama at least ; for he maintains that 
if one sees a crime dramatized on the stage it will purge 
his own soul of a similar deed, if the impulse to commit 
such an one should be lurking therein. On the other hand, 
Aristotle agrees with Plato in his contention that we should 
banish all evil pictures and stories from the schoolroom 
and the nursery, for they will suggest the very evils they 
describe. John Locke viewed human nature on the practical 
side differently from either Plato or Aristotle. If my boy 
must live in the world among men, he says, in substance, 
I wish him to be shown everything therein. Whatever 
faults and vices of men will fall in his way when he is 
a man, he should learn the aspect of when he is young. In 
this manner instruction should build up a fence against the 
world in childhood, and prevent it from breaking in upon 
the young man's character. If the youth has been shown 
what the major forms of evil are and in what guises they 
present themselves, he will be on his guard against them. 
Designing men and women cannot then take advantage of 
his innocence, for he will be familiar with their insidious 
schemes, and will understand to what doom they would 
lead him. And having a just conception of the quality and 
effects of vice, he will shun it as he would some savage 
monster or dread disease. 

As one goes through the literature of education, he finds 
many distinguished students of human nature supporting 
Plato's view, and others equally eminent standing with 
Locke. Again, there are those, like Bacon, who hold that 
knowledge is always the essential requisite for physical or 
moral well-being ; on the one side, the positive, it teaches 
us what can and should be done ; while on the other, the 
negative side, it shows us what we ought to avoid. And 
human nature is so constructed that if wrong-doing is but 
once understood it will be abandoned. People go astray 
because they cannot discriminate clearly between what is 



THE VIEW OF MODERN PSYCHOLOGY 379 

virtuous and what is vicious. But many teachers of morals 
give us a quite different view of man's tendencies. They 
maintain with the poet that evil may at first sight be 
hated, yet if often seen it will soon be endured without 
distress, and it will ultimately be embraced. Some go fur- 
ther and say that man is naturally inclined toward the bad, 
and to introduce the child to it is but to take the first step 
in leading him to espouse it. 

Modern psychology gives us the view that the effect 
upon the child's conduct of experience with evil, whether 

in concrete life or in literature or in the drama, ^ , 

. 1 1 . , T Thevlewof 

depends upon the attitude which he assumes modern 

toward the general situation in which it is pre- ° 

sented. If he lends himself to it ; if he approves of it ; if 
he finds it fascinating, then damage will be done, for he will 
absorb it, and it will work its way into his springs of con- 
duct. But if he reacts against it ; if he can be made to 
hate it ; then he will be the stronger for his contact with it. 
In every experience one has with vice, if his feelings are 
aroused in hostility to it and he comes off victor, he will be 
the better man thereafter. Moral strength is developed, to 
a considerable degree at least, by facing sin squarely and 
fighting it successfully. So with fear and dishonesty and 
every other attitude of the kind. Sut it is absolutely 
necessary that the encounter end right. The evil must be 
resisted, condemned ; courage must overcome fear; the 
temptation to lie must be made to arouse the impulse 
toioard truth-telling. 

Here is seen the real criterion of the value of any 
experience in the development of character. If it affords 
opportunity for the exercise of virtue, whether positively or 
only in the way of combating evil, it will in any event 
develop moral strength, which is in large part resistance to 
evil suggestion. But when sin is in a subtle manner made 
more inviting than goodness, then nothing but disaster can 
result. It should be added that it seems much easier for 



380 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

one to slip backward than to move forward in social con- 
duct ; which means that many forms of social error are 
more attractive and compelling than the antithetic virtues. 
The path of vice is frequently the way of least resistance, 
because we have come up this way, and the route is open 
behind us. But the road ahead is more or less untrodden, and 
we need every encouragement to try it. The danger of ex- 
hibiting sin, even to condemn it, is that it will attract the 
child's attention, and awaken his interest ; and when this 
happens the chances are that he will wish to experiment 
with it. We must count upon it as certain that many con- 
crete evils call to the youth in enchanting tones if he comes 
into their presence, and it may be wisest on the whole to 
fill his ears with other voices. 

To illustrate the principles which have been mentioned, 
we may here examine in a little detail the treatment of fear 
The treat- in childhood. Plato would not permit children 
timidity, as ^^ read literature which depicted frightful scenes 

atypical ^f ^my sort, for he maintains that these will 
undeslraWe i i . 

attitude strengthen their natural tendency toward unrea- 
sonable fear. Locke and Rousseau strictly prohibit stories 
which may frighten a child ; everything of the nature of a 
ghost story, or tales of ogres, goblins, and even giants 
should be banished from the nursery. Spencer, too, com- 
plains of the ignorance of parents and nurses who make 
their children timid with stories of the evil deeds of terri- 
ble creatures. This general view is, perhaps, coming to be 
taken by the majority of parents and teachers in our own 
day. In many of the story-books for children now pouring 
from the press, tales like Little Eed Riding-hood have a 
happy conclusion ; the wolf is not allowed to " eat up " the 
little girl. Bluebeard is likely to be banished altogether 
from juvenile literature, and so is Jack the Giant-killer, 
and all stories of this nature. We are apparently striving 
to keep our children's minds free from scenes of killing and 
devouring, and carrying off into horrid caves or dens. 



THE TREATMENT OF TIMIDITY 381 

The logic of the situation seems very simple to many 
persons. They declare that when the child is told frightful 
tales, he is himself made afraid of the monsters which he 
cannot see, but which he believes exist somewhere in his 
environment. In time he comes to feel that there is some- 
thing in the air, or in the darkness, or in a strange part of 
the city, or in the woods, which is seeking to do him harm. 
But people who hold these views have overlooked one of 
the most profound principles of human nature already 
referred to, namely, that what determines whether one will 
be helped or injured by any experience is the sort of reac- 
tion which he makes thereupon. A child may be placed in 
a situation which from one point of view is frightful ; but 
if he conducts himself in a courageous way, he will be all 
the braver for the experience. The courageous reaction will 
develop courage as a habit in him. It wiU give him a sense 
of power which he could never acquire without such expe- 
rience. If the situation be one of imaginary harm, as told 
in the stories, and he responds in a fearless way and de- 
monstrates that it is but imaginary, — a thing of the air, 
— he will in some measure purge his feelings of the more 
or less obscure fears that reside therein as a bequest from 
heredity. In proving that a thing is groundless, that it is 
false, he gets a sense of the truth more vividly, more effect- 
ively, than if he had never had to deal with fiction. Hu- 
man nature is so constructed that there is needed this tension 
and struggle to develop power, — to build strong character, 
that is to say. 

This principle is as freely illustrated in the lives of chil- 
dren as of adults. Nature has taught persons of every age 
who dread certain objects or forces in their environment to 
summon those things before them and to prove to them- 
selves the futility of being afraid. Listen to children assur- 
ing themselves and others over and over again that they 
are not afraid of this, that, or the other thing. An adult,, 
if he wilj take nqte pf the matter, will find himself often. 



382 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

struggling in imagination with situations which later he 
must struggle with in reality. And what is he accomplish- 
ing in this struggle ? He is arousing and strengthening all 
within him that will give him force and nerve, and thereby 
he is rendered more aggressive and courageous than he 
would be without experience of this sort. And so it may 
be that we are going too far in eliminating from children's 
literature all stories which test their credulity and their cour- 
age. Most of these stories have come down to us from the 
time when men mistrusted and feared the forces of nature. 
Life was more precarious in early times than it is to-day ; 
but man has retained reminiscences of the ancient order, 
and his fancy is filled with very general, indefinite creatures 
that are bent on doing mischief. In his stories he gives 
force and figure to these evil beings, and he emboldens 
himself for conflict with them by reciting his methods of 
overcoming or outwitting them. So when we tell our chil- 
dren these stories, which the natural trend of their young 
minds enables them to respond to so readily, it may be that 
if we can get them to react strongly and positively in a 
courageous way, we will really contribute to the develop- 
ment of their valor. The child who has been told that the 
goblins will get him if he does not watch out, and who can 
say to himself, " There are no goblins, and they will not 
get me," though at first he may not say it with great con- 
fidence, still, if we can induce in him this attitude in which 
he becomes master of the situation, we will give him a very 
valuable experience. We shall leave him much stronger 
than if he had had no occasion to face danger, and meet 
it bravely. This is what Aristotle must have meant by 
" catharsis of the soul." Fear, like any evil humor, may be 
drained off by meeting the object of it squarely and con- 
quering it. 

There is a special phase of the general question before 
us which is of particular importance in all social education. 
In the past it apparently was commonly thought that if 



NEGATION AS A METHOD OF TRAINING 383 

one would only keep a " negative idea" before the attention, 

it would restrain the correlative positive action. 

T, , . -Ill Negation as 

13ut we are hearing on every side to-day that a method oi 

such " negative ideas " are often the means of * ^^ 
initiating the acts they are designed to inhibit. When you 
" think " of not performing an act, as not closing your hand, 
what are you really thinking about ? Try riding a bicycle 
and getting your attention concentrated negatively, so to 
speak, on a person or a tree in your path, and note the 
effect upon your adjustment. Try telling a child, or even 
an adult, not to look toward the clock or the door, say, and 
observe the outcome of your command upon his behavior. 

If you have never reflected upon this matter, these tests 
will indicate to you that what you may have been calling 
a negative idea is really in many instances, so far as its 
dynamogenic tendency is concerned, not negative at all. It 
is negative only in a verbal sense. From the standpoint of 
the content and functioning of consciousness, an idea is 
made negative when it is forced out of the focus of atten- 
tion by other ideas that become dominant, at least for the 
moment. Further, the more one dwells upon the verbally 
negative form of an idea, the more potent the positive form 
often becomes. Breese touches upon the principle involved 
here, when he says : — 

If one attempts to thrust out of consciousness an idea, or an 
emotion, the attempt serves only to intensify it. The more direct 
the effort the clearer will the idea become, and the more persist- 
ently does it remain. The will is successful in inhibiting mental 
states only when working through the motor adjustments of the 
body. If we wish to banish certain thoughts from our mind, we 
can do so only indirectly by inhibiting the bodily adjustments 
which accompany such thoughts. A change of bodily activity tends 
to bring about a change of mental states.^ 

There are very important educational principles that grow 

out of this fundamental law of human nature. To state a 

1 " On Inhibition," Psych. Bev. Monograph Supplement, vol. iii, 1899- 
1901, p. 16. 



384 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

great deal in a word : our chief aim must always be to sug- 
Positive gest right conduct by precept and by example. In 
^s^^met™d *^® P^^^ ^®^ placed their faith in moral training 
of training mainly in the direct suppression of evil ; but we 
are now ready, it seems, to declare emphatically that the 
most effective means of controlling evil is not so much by 
verbally denouncing it, as by keeping it away from the at- 
tention very largely, and putting something worth while in 
its place. A human being is endowed with a given amount 
of energy, which is certain to express itself in some direc- 
tion ; and the great problem of education must ever be to 
direct this energy into the right channels. Moral training 
really implies the establishment of good rather than the sup- 
pression of bad conduct, although if we attain the first end 
we will attain the latter ; but the reverse of this statement 
is not always true. 

Discussing the principle upon which this point is based, 
Koyce ^ says that, " whenever we can get higher functions 
of a positive sort established, we thereby train inhibitory 
tendencies. And, on the whole, this is the wiser course for 
the teacher of the growing brain to take, where such a course 
is possible. Inhibition is a constant means, but it is still but 
a means to an end. The end is the right sort of motor pro- 
cess. You teach a man to control or to restrain himself so 
soon as you teach him what to do in a positive sense. Healthy 
activity includes self-restraint, or inhibition, as one of its ele- 
ments. You in vain teach, then, self-control, unless you teach 
much more than self-control. The New Testament statement 
of ' the law and the prophets ' substitutes ' Thou shalt love,' 
etc., for the 'Thou shalt not' of the Ten Commandments. 
A brain that is devoted to mere inhibition becomes, in very 
truth, like the brain of a Hindoo ascetic — a mere ' parasite ' 
of the organism, feeding, as it were, upon all the lower in- 
herited or acquired nervous functions of this organism by 
devoting itself to their hindrance. In persons of morbidly 
^ Outlines of Psychology, p. 76. 



POSITIVE METHODS OF TRAINING 385 

conscientious life such inhibitory phenomena may easily get 

an inconvenient, and sometimes do get a dangerous intensity. 

The result is then a fearful, cowardly, helpless attitude 

toward life, — an attitude which defeats its own aim and 

renders the sufferer not, as he intends to be, ' good,' but a 

positive nuisance." 

It seems within bounds to say that we are aiming in 

modern life to put emphasis chiefly upon positive methods 

of trainuiof, not alone in the school, but in the ^ 

o'_ ' Present- 

home, and in the church as well. The reform- dayten- 

atory as an educative institution based on the 
positive principle is rapidly taking the place of the prison 
as a mere inhibitive or punitive institution. Interesting, 
vital studies in the school are making less necessary, even 
though slowly, the employment of the cane and the birch 
in school government. Playgrounds and wholesome amuse- 
ment halls are to some extent depopulating the jails in con- 
gested communities. Young Men's Christian Associations 
are reducing the number of men who look to the saloon for 
their recreation. But there is a vast deal still to be accom- 
plished. Law-makers have not yet realized their full respon- 
sibility in this respect, else they would devote more attention 
than they seem now to do to devising means of enticing 
young people into social ways, rather than of punishing 
them when they have sinned. The church has not realized 
its full responsibility ; if it had it would give greater promi- 
nence to positive and less to mere negative methods. It 
would lead people to be more dynamic in doing good, and 
to be less devoted to the negative attitude of condemning 
the evil in themselves. " I am a miserable sinner and there 
is no life in me," indicates an attitude still altogether too 
prominent in the church. It is strange that people have not 
appreciated this, as it touches the practical life, since they 
believe apparently that " out of the heart are the issues of 
life," and " as a man thinks so is he." In a word, the greatest 
virtue in a trainer, whether in the school, the home, or the 



386 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

church, lies in his ability to direct and to guide rather than 
to repress the young ; to transform evil into good ; to sug- 
gest ways of right action which will turn energy out of 
wrong channels ; to hold up ideals which will be attractive, 
and which will stimulate children to work them out prac- 
tically into their own conduct ; to present for emulation 
strong, vigorous personalities which will be positive, and 
not negative, which will make the child dwell upon what is 
upright and worthy and wholesome, rather than upon the 
opposite. 

As Guyau puts it : — 

To assert that a child is indifferent to its parents is not the way 
to make it affectionate ; on the contrary, it is much to be feared 
that assertion of indifference only produces it or at any rate in- 
creases it, by persuading the child of its existence. A sentiment 
must be imputed in far more delicate terms than an act. We may 
reproach a child for having done or not done this or that; but in 
my opinion it should be a rule in education to suggest rather 
than reproach in matters of sentiment} 

In preceding chapters attention has been frequently called 

to the difficult problems encountered in social training in 

modern city life, and it may now be appropriate 

problems of to mention some of the tendencies in village life 

*^^ ° especially which operate against wholesome, effect- 
ive education in the home, the school, and the church. In 
a recent tour of inspection through a number of villages in 
the middle West, the writer made some observations respect- 
ing the opportunities offered for the entertainment and 
inspiration of the young. One of the features that impressed 
him most deeply and unhappily in all these communities 
was the art displayed on the bill-boards and in the shop 
windows, and the fascination this had for the boys and girls 
of all ages. One " show " had passed through this region a 
short time before, and had left behind traces of itself in 
prominent public places ; another was to appear soon, and 

^ Education and Heredity, p. 28. 



PROBLEMS OF VILLAGE LIFE 387 

the fact was announced in blatant posters spread every- 
where. These in most cases suggested vividly a kind of life 
in direct contrast with that which we believe we ought to 
develop in the young. The boys and girls as they came from 
the schools could be noticed enjoying the crude and rather 
indecent illustrations. Even the older people could not 
refrain from giving them their attention, because there was 
little else in town so striking and enticing. 

The bill-board artist knows how to make his pictures stop 
people of all ages on the street. Unfortunately the teacher 
and parent and minister seem frequently to lack his skill in 
arousing the interest and curiosity of youth, or maturity 
either. These show pictures often make a stronger impres- 
sion upon young people than does the grammar or cube 
root or Declaration of Independence taught in the school, 
or the catechism in the church. The school appeals to inter- 
ests that are not yet very profoundly established in the 
race ; but it is just the other way with the feelings which 
the show artist aims to stimulate. This vulgar art deter- 
mines to a very important extent the thoughts and emotions 
of a large proportion of the people, especially the young, 
in many a village throughout our country ; and rarely does 
it portray situations that suggest fine, delicate feeling, such 
as we strive to awaken and nourish in the schools. An old 
man slips upon the sidewalk, cracking his skull, and a crowd 
of ruffians stand around and make merry over the affair. 
An ungainly woman is tossed by the street car into the air, 
all her belongings being scattered about her, and every one 
in the picture who witnesses it regards it as a huge joke. 
Some rowdies get up on a building and drop water down 
the backs of passers-by and then hide, and we are led to 
infer from the expressions of the boys that this is glorious 
fun. Possibly the most vicious of all the representations 
depict bibulous scenes. Gay fellows are seen drinking and 
having a " good " time, and there are always girls who 
approve of their conduct and urge them on. The artist 



388 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

knows that this will excite young people, — that it will fas- 
cinate some of them, and they will wish to see the real 
thing. And these pictures always convey the impression 
that the libertine is a happy fellow, who gratifies his pas- 
sions, and gets a good deal more out of life than one who 
has moral scruples and observes them. The minister, as the 
representative of sobriety and decency, is generally depicted 
as a cold, formal, unattractive personality. 

The effect of such representations upon the ideals and con- 
duct of youth is likely to be especially unfortunate in the 
village, because the tide of wholesome social action here is 
commonly not strong enough to carry young people along 
with it. There is little for them to do that demands seK- 
control and wise husbanding and employment of their ener- 
gies, and under such conditions they are only too apt to 
revert to primitive modes of enjoyment. In the larger com- 
munities, where the current of positive life moves more 
swiftly and along many routes, these suggestions cannot 
make so deep an impression upon youth ; there is not time 
to linger over them ; and if a boy does lend himself to them 
he is soon ordered out of the ranks. 

The problem of the village lies in the commonplaceness 
of the ideals so often set before youth, and the lack of vigor- 
ous, wholesome, interesting occupation. It must be acknow- 
ledged that the chief concern in many of these places is not 
the care and culture of the young, but the hoarding of 
money ; and this militates against the uplifting influences 
of church and school and home. Recently the ministers, 
principals of schools, and police authorities in one hundred 
and twenty-five towns in the middle West were requested 
to furnish information respecting boy-life in their respec- 
tive communities, and complete returns were received from 
sixty-five towns. One question asked was, — What propor- 
tion of the homes in your community make life attractive 
for the boys who live in them ? What do the unattractive 
homes lack? The replies which follow are typical of most 
of those that were received : — 



HOME INFLUENCES IN THE VILLAGE 389 

A very small portion of the homes are attractive. Lack of sympathy 
with the boy in his work or plans, and lack of games or Home inlla- 
means of amusement. In the better kind of homes the encesln 
sources of attraction are suitable reading matter, games, *^^ village 
and freedom to engage in sports. It is not things but parental attitude 
that determines the attractiveness of the homes here. 

So little is done here to make the home attractive that one might 
say that no home is attractive. They lack music, books, good periodi- 
cals, and games. In the few well-kept homes music, books, good peri- 
odicals, and games exist, and a place is found for the boys. 

Not one half. They lack good reading material, and father and 
mother are so engrossed with this world's afPairs that they entirely 
forget their duty to the man of to-morrow. Pleasant games, good read- 
ing material, pleasant rooms tastefully furnished, are sources of 
attractions. 

Not more than twenty per cent, if that. They lack good literature, 
books, daily papers, games, and pleasant family conversations. In at- 
tractive homes parents are stern but kind. Books, papers, games, 
pleasant faces, and interest in the boy make the home attractive. 

Not over one in ten. Many homes are dark and desolate. Games, 
attractive books, and magazines are lacking. Sources of attraction are 
attention from parents and older children, kind words, music, pictures, 
and games. 

About five per cent. They lack those social comforts which are most 
needful to boys ; music, games, books, and journals. Also that kind of 
fatherly and m.otherly companionship which is so necessary to weld 
children to the home. 

These confessions indicate the most serious defects in the 
life of the typical village. The majority of the homes are des- 
olate ; there is little in them that appeals to the boy, that 
ministers to his deep-seated instincts, and so he takes to the 
street. The correspondents mentioned above declare that 
relatively few of the boys in their respective communities 
spend their evenings at home. Says one, — 

From the great number of boys on the street, loafing in the stores, 
barber shops, and saloons, I should judge very few spend their evenings 
at home. Most of those who do are the church and high-school boys 
who read and study. 

Says another : — 

The percentage, judging from the numbers on the streets, is very 
small. A goodly number spend their time in the billiard hall or bowl- 
ing alley. A large number on the street corners. This town has no 
place for them at night. 



390 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

And this is the condition in a majority of the towns from 
which reports have been received. 

As a consequence of lack of interesting employment for 
the boys of the village, rowdyism is certain to develop. 
" We have gangs in our town," writes a superintendent of 
schools, "and their aims are low. There is a marked indiffer- 
ence to all that is good. The bad, immoral boys are the 
leaders." A minister says that in his town of a thousand 
souls there is the gang that " smokes cigarettes, annoys 
citizens, etc. This develops frequently from mischief into 
vice." And so it goes throughout the list of towns ; most of 
them have these groups of embryo brigands, who are such 
mainly because there is little else to attract them strongly. 
The institutions that should train these boys into the ways 
of civilization have not yet learned that this can be done 
only by reaching them on the plane of their native interests, 
and not by ignoring the latter altogether, and adopting a 
merely formal, negative, prohibitory regime. 

Here is the way an editor, who has seen much of the 

Boy-iifoia subject of which he treats, writes of boy-life in 

*?°™^"/ the towns of a Western state, but what one will 
ol a West- , ' 

ern state be of no interest to the reader: — 

The boyhood that characterizes the life of the small towns does not 
give much hope. These towns are strung along the railroad lines as 
beads on a string — communities of from two hundred to a thousand 
people. They differ in tone, but in many of them the railroad station, 
the barroom, and the livery stable are the chief resorts for the youth, 
and cheap boastings, silly banter, constant profanity, and indecent 
stories make up the conversation. New books are appearing each day; 
great social movements of vital importance are engaging thoughtful 
men ; our new islands of the sea are crowded with interest ; the 
details of our warships would fascinate any boy ; the biography of 
Edison, of Marconi, of Theodore Roosevelt would appeal to him as a 
fairy tale. The men of the future are wrangling, bragging, and swear- 
ing about the speed of some horse that lived or died on the town 
" bus," or the size of the fish that got away in the mill-pond the year 
of the Johnstown flood. The city with all its drawbacks is better soil 
than this, for in the city occasional ideals are forced on the most care- 
less youth. There are multiplied types of the gentleman in the city, of 



THE OPPORTUNITY IN THE VILLAGE 391 

muscular Christianity, of the best success ; visions of upright, decent 
living ; manifestations of sound, contagious manhood, that cannot 
escape the boy. But as one observes the idle loafer around the railroad 
stations awaiting the evening train or notes their exchange of obscen- 
ities in the tavern, the vision seems to be wholly obscured; it seems as 
if the only captivating ideal of manhood was some blustering loafer, 
who boasted of his vileness ; as if quiet courage, clean humor, sound, 
well-controlled, ambitious manhood were types which the dull, sodden 
mass leave to others to attaiu. 

The remedy for the present condition of affairs in the 
village must be found in wholesome occupation in line with 
the natural interests of boys and girls. There rpheoppor- 
must be furnished opportunities for employment tunityof 
1 Ml 1 1 MT 1 , . . tie school 

that will be upbuilding, and at the same time in- in tie 

teresting and attractive. Manual training schools ' ^^° 
would do for the boy in town what the farm did for his 
father, and more, — - they would engage him in an activity 
which he would like, and in the prosecution of which he 
would have to coordinate his powers in the attainment of 
definite ends. He would be compelled to save his energies 
for this purpose, and not squander them in riotous living. 
Greek and algebra and parsing alone will never keep the 
village boy from drink and things worse ; such a curriculum 
is liable to drive him out of school on to the street. Every- 
thing in the schools ought to have an obvious life relation 
for the boy who has passed his twelfth birthday. He must 
feel that in mastering any study he is gaining real power, 
which he will find of service in the world outside. 

The movement which has gained such headway in larger 
places, looking toward making the school the centre of the 
life of the community, will do much for the boy in the 
village. The school will be open for him in the evening, 
and he may go there for reading and study, and for amuse- 
ment as well. As it is now, though, the school is sometimes 
little else but a place for tasks, for drudgery ; so that the 
boy often hates it, and all it stands for. Consequently it 
exerts little beneficial influence upon his spontaneous con- 



392 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

duct. When he gains his freedom he wants to get as far 
away from the school and its ideals as he can. The boy 
who retains affection for the mere formal type of school is 
an exception, and he is apt to be ignored by the gang. 
But once let the new ideal of the school as a social centre, 
and a place where interesting, dynamic activities flourish, — 
let this ideal get established in any village, and the attitude 
of the typical boy toward the school will be completely 
changed. It will then be a place where he can grow nor- 
mally, and not simply a prison-house where he must be 
confined for a time.^ 

The church in the village, too, is often derelict in its plain 
duty. Sometimes it spends most of its energies in verbaliz- 
ing, one might say, and it does little if anything to enlist 
youth in wholesome, interesting social or other kinds of 
work. The churches ought to assist in providing occupations 
or amusements that will keep boys out of the saloons and 
gambling dens. How long must we wait before ministers 
and others who are trying to save souls will realize that 
they can achieve success only as they make right action 
possible and attractive ? Mere negation, which is so char- 
acteristic of village preaching, has the effect often to urge 
boys on to sin. The saloon seems to understand boy nature 
better than the church does ; or at least it is frequently 
made more attractive to him, and so it gets a firmer grip 
upon him. 

This subject should not be left without first noting a few 
Practical suggestions made by correspondents relative to 
methods of ^Yiq practical methods of improving the conditions 
ment for boys in the towns. There is one general point 

^ The extraordinary interest manifested in the vacation schools in all the 
large cities bears out this statement. It has been found impossible to pro- 
vide sufficient accommodations for the children who voluntarily seek admis- 
sion to these schools. The secret lies in the curriculum and methods of 
teaching, the aim being to make everything concrete and attractive, while at 
the same time highly educative. It is certainly not impossible to make the 
-work of the regular school appeal very strongly to the young. 



PRACTICAL METHODS OF IMPROVEMENT 393 

which nearly every writer emphasizes, — provide opportu- 
nities for wholesome occupation in the home, school, and 
church, and in properly conducted resorts and clubrooms. 
Public playgrounds and athletic rooms under right super- 
vision would keep practically all young boys out of saloons. 
Here are a few suggestions from men who are in the midst of 
things, and who are students of the problems involved : — 

Have parents wake up to the need of knowing their boys and plan- 
ning for them. Form efficient clubs for them in both the church and 
the school, — some place for them in both summer and winter that will 
keep them from the saloon. I aimed at a public library for the boys, 
but no church here has yet realized that there is a need of a place for 
boys. 

What our small cities need is some attractive place of meeting for 
the boys who will be away from home at night. Of course, I would lay 
special stress on the home attractions, as nothing can ever equal or take 
the place of a well-regulated home. It would pay the small cities in 
the line of making good citizens, to levy a mill-tax, to be used exclu- 
sively in maintaining a clean, well-managed resort for young men, and 
then close the saloon, if possible. No young man is safe while the 
saloon, as now run, is the most attractive place of social resort on the 
public streets of our small towns. 

I would distribute good periodical literature in every home for the 
boys ; have a public library and reading-room ; debating and literary 
clubs ; abolish the saloon, card-playing, and the cigar store ; have 
athletic, ball, and boat clubs ; give the boys a regular holiday each 
month ; have more social gatherings in the home and the church. 

First, I would thoroughly Americanize all foreigners. To my mind, 
a club and a place where good reading, good games, and gymnastic 
exercises can be carried on is the only thing that will bring about a 
better condition. There is too little amusement in the home for boys. 
The present system in the Sunday school must be remodeled, as it is 
very repulsive to the boy. 

United effort on the part of all churches. What to do for the boy 
is the serious problem of the church. This town has no place to enter- 
tain the boys but the saloon. The education is limited, and drinking 
and carousing, even by boys, frequent. What we want is an attractive 
resort to keep the boy from the saloon. 

I would let the boy dance, play cards and billiards in the home. 
For those who had not good homes 1 would introduce these games into 
a well-reg^ilated clubroom for the boy. In fact, I would allow anything 
that was not contrary to decency. Do everything possible to keep the 
boy off the street and away from the saloons. 



394 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

In suggestion an individual tends to act in conformity with or in 
opposition to ideas abruptly thrust into consciousness, either from 
without or from within. To-day students of human nature 
accept as an hypothesis the proposition that every idea has a 
motor aspect. The young child's conduct is more or less of a reflex of 
the stimulations that play upon him from his environment, and that 
always tend to become realized in action. 

Whatever an individual has done frequently in a given situation he 
tends ultimately to do automatically when the appropriate stimulus is 
received, though in the beginning he may have had to struggle con- 
sciously to do it, or to learn it. Whenever the attention is concentrated 
on any act that has been performed, the probabilities are the act will 
occur again unless it is restrained by inhibiting acts. The psychological 
conditions under which a given suggestion will take effect in any par- 
ticular instance are well-nigh infinitely complex. 

The personality of the trainer is the most potent influence for good 
or ill in suggesting modes of conduct to the child. The chief problem 
in education is to keep the young in contact with socially strong, 
capable, efficient men and women ; all else is secondary in importance 
to this. 

Throughout the history of education men have differed in their views 
regarding the wisdom of permitting children to become familiar with 
evil so as to learn to combat it, Plato best represents the negative side 
of the question, and Locke the positive side. Modern psychology takes 
the view that the effect upon the child's conduct of experience with 
evil depends upon the attitude he assumes toward the situation in which 
it is presented. If contact with evil arouses hostile attitudes, the child 
will be the better for his experience ; if it attracts him, he will be in- 
jured. Moral strength is developed by meeting evil and successfully 
combating it. Fear, as a typical disadvantageous emotion, cannot be 
cured by avoiding altogether the objects that arouse fear, but only by 
facing them and strongly assuming the courageous attitude. 

Negation as a method of training is fundamentally wrong. It often 
weakens instead of strengthens character ; it suggests evil when such 
suggestion is harmful. The positive method of strongly suggesting in 
every way possible wholesome social conduct will alone prove success- 
ful in most situations. In modern life we are apparently striving to 
base our training on the positive method, substituting the reformatory 
for the prison, etc. 

The village, as well as the city, has its problems in social training. 
In the typical village the suggestions of indecent, vulgar action are 
often stronger than those of an opposite sort. The tide of wholesome 
life in the village is commonly not dynamic enough to overcome the 
suggestions to idleness, vice, and so on. The influence of the typical 
village home for good is not very prominent, — not nearly as strong as 



RESUME 395 

the saloon, the barber shop, and the livery stable. The school and the 
church are often not dynamic enough to counteract the evil suggestions 
dominant in the village. What is needed here is opportunity for whole- 
some, interesting occupation ; and the school and the church could 
easily cooperate iu furnishing this. 



CHAPTER XVII 

IMITATION 

In any biological group, the markedly exceptional indi- 
vidual in respect to any particular trait generally arouses 

the antagonism of some or all of the remaining 
homo- members, unless he be very clearly a leader and 

is accepted as such. Only birds of a feather can 
flock together. The odd sheep in the flock is constantly 
plagued by the rest of the group, and they would eliminate 
him if they could. The treatment of the ugly duckling is 
typical in principle of that accorded the peculiar individual 
in the life of the forest, or elsewhere. In previous chapters 
we have noted instances showing that this same phenomenon 
may be seen in human society. Study the life of the play- 
ground, and it will be seen that a boy in any way markedly 
peculiar is apt to become an object of more or less direct 
and persistent bullying by the crowd. The group will not 
easily tolerate any considerable departure from general group 
characteristics, either in respect to physical traits, or to 
dress, manners, or any attitudes or actions affecting the 
interests, customs, or practices of the group. If it is the 
habit of the group in school to tantalize the teacher, any 
boy who is " good " wiU not be in favor, and he may suffer 
for his virtue. In the universities where it is the custom of 
students to appear to be indifferent to study, any individual 
who advertises himself as eager and industrious, and who 
attends his classes with demonstrative faithfulness, will be 
made the butt of ridicule, and often he will be ostracized. 
From the earliest times student communities have used 
physical measures to compel the " queer " or " smart " fresh- 
man to adjust himself to the practices of the group ; this 
is the real object of hazing in colleges. As a general prin- 



ILLUSTRATIONS OF IMITATIVE ACTIVITY 397 

ciple — though allowing for exceptions — those individuals 
in any company who come nearest to conforming to the 
trend of group characteristics will prosper in every way. 
Also, only those individuals who have had a disposition to 
adapt themselves to environmental tendencies have survived 
in the struggle for existence, and they have transmitted 
this trait in greater or less degree to their descendants. We 
might expect that this characteristic would be particularly 
marked in the human species, since group life is so much 
more pronounced here than elsewhere. As a matter of fact, 
we find that people in all times have attached great impor- 
tance to imitation as an assimilative and harmonizing pro- 
cess in human society. " The child is a born imitator " is a 
popular saying ; and in this chapter we shall inquire what 
is the significance of this activity for social development. 
We may first glance at some of the simplest ways in which 
this imitative tendency is expressed. To begin with, the 
young child — say two years of age — and his pamiiiar 
father are together in a room, each engaged in his iUustra- 
own particular occupation, and more or less uncon- imitative 
scious of the existence of the other. For purposes *° ^ ^ 
of an experiment the father "makes up a face " when the 
boy happens to be looking his way, and immediately the 
latter does the same as best he can. He does it before he 
" thinks what he is doing," though he may afterward be 
aware of what he has done. The father starts humming an 
air, and the child is soon humming also. The former goes to 
answer the telephone, and the latter may begin saying more 
or less mechanically "hello," "yes," " I think so," "good- 
by," and he may endeavor to reproduce the peculiar into- 
nations as well as the words of his father.^ So one might 
follow the child throughout the whole day, and he would 
be found to be continually imitating those actions occur- 
ring about him that are within his range of interest and ex- 

^ I have discussed in detail the child's imitation of language in my Lin- 
guistic Development and Education, chaps, ii-v. 



398 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

ecution at the time. He is especially ready in reproducing 
bodily attitudes, and vocal and facial expressions. 

If we keep an eye on him as he develops, we will find that 
for a long stretch, until he arrives at the period of ado- 
lescence at any rate, he retains this mimetic tendency, which 
is manifested in reference to all activities he is learning at 
any particular time. But when he becomes facile in the ex- 
ecution of any act so that he is really master of it, he seems 
not to be so eager to reproduce it for mere practice. Thus 
the boy of nine does not repeat what he hears said at the 
telephone, unless something quite novel occurs, when he 
will be likely to do as he did so freely when he was a babe. 
But at this age he repeats golf and football terms and 
phrases, much as the young child copies the simple words 
of ordinary speech. Of course, if he should be placed in an 
environment where the simple words of ordinary speech 
were strange to him, as when he is taken to a foreign coun- 
try, he will reproduce them more or less mechanically upon 
hearing them, as when a babe he reproduced the words and 
phrases of his native tongue. Whatever he is learning he 
will be in a specially sensitive condition to practice, to imi- 
tate on every occasion. Needless to add, what he has learned 
he does not need to practice, for he is already adjusted to 
his environment in this respect. As a general principle, 
learning proceeds just so long as one is not assimilated to 
his environment. 

Children from the second year on are adept in imitating 
the simpler forms of industrial and social activity which 
Conditions they see going on about them, taking the most 
fhJohua's elementary and concrete activities first, and passing 
imitations along gradually to those more complex, involved, 
and "abstract." Children normally reflect in their own 
activities the simpler occupations and pastimes of the people 
in their environment. However, a novice will reproduce 
only what is fundamental in any act copied, and what is 
closely related to what he has previously done, so that he 



CONDITIONS GOVERNING IMITATIONS 399 

usually reflects only the general type of the action he ob- 
serves, not its ditferentiated details. On this account he is 
not critical of the implements or materials he uses, though 
as he develops he becomes ever more eager to make his 
own activity like the copy in all details, which compels him 
to pay heed to his instruments. The student in the art 
college takes account of all the peculiarities in workman- 
ship of his teacher ; but the kindergarten child ignores all 
these peculiarities, and notes simply the general action of 
mixing colors, and spreading them on his paper. Any im- 
plements will suffice which will enable him to reproduce 
this general activity. He will choose the same implements 
if he finds them at hand, but if he fails in this he will put 
up with anything that will answer for the time being. 

The doing of an act seems at the outset to engage the 
attention of the novice more than the results of his action ; 
though with development the situation is reversed. To 
illustrate : one may observe a child of four, say, washing, 
her doll's clothing. For hours at a time she will apply her- 
self earnestly to this task, which in adult life would be re- 
garded as hard labor. What is the source of her interest in 
this activity ? For the adult clean clothing has an aesthetic 
value ; it ministers directly to his well-being, and this is 
the reason he does laundry work. But it is certainly differ- 
ent with this child ; for her the pleasure is mainly in the 
action itself. She evidently cares little about the results of 
her efforts, as the adult does. Being able simply to execute 
the activity is a sufficient reward, without anything addi- 
tional. Again, one may observe children making mud pies, 
when it is apparent that it is not the pie which has value 
for them ; it is the making of it that gives delight. Perhaps 
these activities anticipate the future, and if so they become 
of great service in adapting the child to his environment. 
The girl who washes her doll's clothes, while not now effect- 
ing anything of immediate value, is yet acquiring skill and 
habits which will later prove of considerable importance. 



400 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

It is a commonplace fact that a child of four years, say, 

will " imagine " himself to be some particular in- 
Fersonatlon 
in child- dividual, or a bear, a dog, a wolf, a horse, or any 

°° other creature he has seen or heard described ; 

and he will often carry out his new role for hours at a time.^ 
Sometimes he will be aggrieved if the people about him 
do not treat him as his assumed personality requires. In 
the course of a week the child may assume the personality 
of his mother, his father, each of his playmates, and numer- 
ous animals. At first, of course, he will exhibit only the 
more simple, direct, striking phases of the people or ani- 
mals dramatized. The carpenter will be imitated in his 
manual activities, not in his life as a citizen, which is more 
complex and obscure. When the father and mother are 
dramatized, it is not in their subtle relations to society, 
though they may be copied in respect to impressive con- 

^ The following^ instance of personation is typical of well-nigh numberless 
examples given in the literature of child-life : — 

" We pretended to be two caterpillars, and we would creep along the 
ground upon our stomachs and our knees, and hunt for leaves to eat. After 
having done that for some time we played that we were very, very sleepy, 
and we would lie down in a corner under the trees and cover our heads with 
our white aprons — we had become cocoons. We remained in this condition 
for some time, and so thoroughly did we enter into the role of insects in 
a state of metamorphosis, that any one listening would have heard pass 
between us, in a tone of the utmost seriousness, conversation of this 
nature : — 

" ' Do you think that you will soon be able to fly ? ' 

'' * Oh, yes ! I '11 be flying very soon ; I feel them growing in my shoulders 
now . . . they '11 soon unfold.' (' They ' naturally referred to wings.) 

" Finally we would wake up, stretch ourselves, and, without saying any- 
thing, we conveyed by our manner our astonishment at the great transforma- 
tion in our condition. . . . 

" Then suddenly we began to run lightly and very nimbly in our tiny 
shoes ; in our hands we held the corners of our pinafores, which we waved 
as if they were wings ; we ran and ran, and chased each other, and flew 
about, making sharp and fantastic curves as we went. We hastened from 
flower to flower and smelled all of them, and we continually imitated the 
restlessness of giddy moths ; we imagined, too, that we were imitating their 
buzzing when we exclaimed : ' Hou ou ou ! ' a noise we made by filling the 
cheeks with air and puffing it out quickly through the half-closed mouth." 
Loti, The Story of a Child, pp. 62, 63. 



PERSONATION IN CHILDHOOD 401 

ventions or formalities. In due course, though, the child 
becomes chiefly interested in the personation of people in 
t'^eir more genuine social activities. The college student 
" imagines " himself in the place of his favorite instructor or 
author or soldier or lawyer, and he endeavors to conduct 
himself in the spirit of the personality of his model in the 
complex adjustments of his daily life. The youth is consider- 
ably less demonstrative in his personating activity than the 
child, and he does not so readily assume personalities ; and 
when he does assume them they modify his general intel- 
lectual, emotional, and moral attitudes, rather than his 
outward demeanor. Yiith development, at least after the 
early years of adolescence are passed, one's motor attitudes 
seem to become relatively fixed and unmodifiable. Com- 
pared with childhood they are much less plastic, so that the 
individual normally plays new roles with ever increasing 
difficulty, unless he makes a special effort to preserve his 
plasticity, as the playwright does. 

There is another aspect of this general activity which is 
of theoretical and practical interest. The child not onlj" as- 
sumes personalities readily, but he also is very active in 
constructing an imaginary environment of particular persons 
or animals, and reacting upon it as though it were real. To 
illustrate : S. at five asks me repeatedly to be a bear, or a 
dog, or a wolf, or a horse, or what not, and then he conducts 
himself as he thinks appropriate. When I am a bear, he 
runs away screaming as if frightened, or he hides in some 
secure place, or he shoots me with his improvised gun, when 
he instructs me to fall at his feet as if dead. Often he re- 
quests me to be teacher, and at once he puts himself into 
the attitude of a learner, and carries out the programme 
of the schoolroom as completely and correctly as he can. 
When there are no people about to play the parts he wishes, 
he will make use of the furniture of the room, — the chairs, 
or the piano, or perhaps his pets or playthings. All this 
make-believe is, of course, for the sole purpose that he may 



402 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

act in a variety of adjustive ways. Every attribute that lie 
assumes, or projects into the things around him is made the 
stimulus for a special sort of response. 

It is suggestive to note that Plato would not allow chil- 
Piatoonthe dren to personate animals, or even human beings 
^°dramau-* ®^ ^^ un worthy type, — as rogues, cowards, rev- 
zation. elers, or comedians. " The same person," he says 
in his Re2)uhlic,^ " will hardly be able to play the serious 
part of life, and at the same time be an imitator and imitate 
many other parts as well." Plato's Guardians were advised 
not to imitate at all ; or if they did, they should from 
youth upward copy only those persons who were temperate, 
courageous, holy, free, and the like. He would object to the 
child, who is destined for a high place in the state, imitat- 
ing a blacksmith in his plays ; for if he does he will absorb 
the characteristics of the blacksmith, and this will degrade 
him, because any occupation which deals with material things 
is sordid. The logic of this argument seems sound enough, in 
a way. From one point of view Plato appears to be in the 
right when he says that a child who copies the barking of 
a dog, or the bleating of a sheep, or the crowing of a rooster, 
will have his growth upward toward the highest human 
attributes impeded, for one who imitates the outward char- 
acteristics of an animal tends to acquire the inner attributes 
as well. 

But this argument is only apparently sound. Current 
theory respecting the conscious and subconscious " selves " 
leads us to the view that the child may play many parts 
without losing his own identity at any time, or without the 
self of one character influencing the self of another per- 
manently. Each self preserves its own individuality intact. 
When the child is a bear, his human, social self has for the 
moment abdicated the throne of consciousness ; but it stands 
ready to resume its authority at any moment, when the 
bear-self will be thrust summarily into the background, 

^ Loc. cit. 



MORAL EFFECT OF DRAMATIZATION 403 

and it will exert no controlling influence over the real 
self, though the latter may use advantageously some of the 
adjustments acquired while playing the role of the former. 
But the personality of the bear as such does not and can- 
not break in upon the child's personality ; the two as unit- 
ized selves apparently remain perfectly distinct, and only 
change places on occasion. The real self, however, is always 
able at will to dislodge the assumed personality so long as 
sanity is maintained. Often when a child has apparently 
lost himself fully in the characteristics of the thing he is 
impersonating, if an adult appears on the scene, or some 
interesting or distracting event occurs, the human self in- 
stantly steps forward, and the make-believe self is com- 
pletely routed. There is no evidence that it lingers about 
the focus of consciousness, and dislodges or in any way in- 
terferes with the real self in dealing with the serious situa- 
tions of every-day life. It is this power of make-believe 
which enables the child to simulate many characters, his 
own real nature watching, as it were, in " subliminal re- 
gions " while others disport themselves in the foreground 
of consciousness for brief periods. 

The child who at this moment may lap up his food like 
a pig, may the next moment, if the situation calls for it, eat 
like a human being, and he may show no disposition to 
revert to the habits of swine when the situations in which 
he is placed require human activities. The manners of the 
pig, though simulated, do not break into the solidified body 
of human manners which the child has come to regard as 
real, as proper, as natural. When he acts like a pig he 
knows he is playing a part, and his playing does not make 
a serious impression upon his conduct as a whole. He is 
all the time correcting the tendency of his simulations to 
become real, and thus they do not get a serious hold on him, 
so that his real personality is obscured. It is possible that 
under certain circumstances, and with some children, the 
personations may come dangerously near establishing them- 



404 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

selves permanently in the seat of authority, and holding in 
abeyance the real and human characteristics of the individ- 
ual ; but it is probable that such occurrences are extremely 
rare. 

What, then, does the child gain from his personating 
activity ? It seems that, for one thing, he increases the 

amplitude of his powers. Take the voice, for in- 
The value . 

ofpersonat- stance; it appears that the child who barks and 

ngac V y ^.p^^g ^^-^^ bellows and roars, develops a breadth 
and fullness of voice that would be impossible for a child 
who should always speak in modulated tones as his father 
and mother do. If it be asked of what use is this breadth 
and fullness of vocal powers, since the child will not need 
to roar and bellow in mature life, it may be answered that 
nature takes precautions to provide for all possible emer- 
gencies. In human life there may be opportunities for a 
person to influence his fellows through a voice of great 
power, as in oratory or song. Again, the child's practice in 
roaring like a lion, for example, may tend to strengthen 
the emotional attitudes of which the roar is ordinarily an 
expression — attitudes of fearlessness, of daring. Then one 
cannot help but feel that the child who has assumed many 
personalities has disciplined his powers in a large way, made 
them more supple and responsive, so that they will express 
his own proper personality more completely in the varied 
situations in which he may be placed in daily life. 

The principle is, of course, of particular importance as 
it concerns the child's personation of human beings. Every 
personality he assumes stretches his own in one direction 
or another, enriches it perhaps, or at least broadens it. 
Through personation one gets the point of view of others ; 
he discovers how it feels in a broad sense to do as they 
do, and in this manner he gains understanding of his fel- 
lows, and is put in a way to sympathize with them. Again, 
when the child creates an environment, and then reacts 
upon it, he is really pre-adjusting himself to that environ- 



VALUE OF PERSONATING ACTIVITY 405 

ment. He is in a vital sense practicing for the serious life 
ahead. 

The importance of this principle has been impressed upon 
the writer as a result of some observations extending over 
a number of years which he has been able to make upon 
two children. One of these two is constantly personating 
the people and things about her. She cannot come into 
contact with an individual without " acting out " much of 
what she sees and hears, — the language used, the peculiar 
vocal intonations, the expressions of the face, and the gen- 
eral attitudes, intellectual and emotional, as well as motor. 
She is very active in constructing " imaginary " environ' 
ments of one sort or another, and she reacts appropriately, 
as far as she can, to each. In this manner she appears 
already to have developed a wide range of adaptability to 
varied situations, though it is not intended to imply that 
her adjustments have been attained solely through her per- 
sonating activity. Anotlier child in the same house rarely 
personates anyone or anything. Her range of activity is 
thus quite limited ; she spends her time to a large extent 
sucking her thumb, or doing something equally simple and 
concentric. In consequence of this as an important factor, 
her development has been much slower than that of her 
sister. Of course, if she had been born with the same equip- 
ment of energy and dynamic tendency as her sister, she 
would doubtless have developed more rapidly than she has 
done, even if she did not personate extensively. Neverthe- 
less, dramatic activity furnishes one of the most educative 
ways in which to expend energy. It is significant that 
feeble-minded children do not imitate in any complex way, 
though they may mimic simple expressions of features or 
of body ; and doubtless this is one reason, though not the 
only one, why they progress so much more tardily than the 
normal individual. 

Happily we are beginning to recognize in the work of the 
school the fundamental principle in question here. Already 



406 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

the classic myths, fables, fairy stories, and folk tales are 
Dramatiz- dramatized by young children in some schools, 
ing work And how interested, and even enthusiastic, pupils 
school do become when they get started in this delight- 

ful business, so that they are not too stiff and self-conscious ! 
And how thoroughly they learn the classic tales when they 
dramatize them, and the gods and goddesses that are re- 
ferred to so frequently in much of our best literature ! When 
a boy endeavors to impersonate Zeus, say, he gains a know- 
ledge of the peculiar qualities of this mythical personage 
which he could not acquire so effectively in any other way. 
And the teacher does not need to keep urging the boy to 
" learn his lesson." His spontaneous interest will be all the 
incentive he will need to try in every way to find out the 
characteristics of his model, and to represent him so that he 
might be recognized by his friends.. 

The writer recently followed a group of children from 
six to ten or eleven years of age through a series of dra- 
matizations of the more familiar Greek myths. The work 
was wholly voluntary ; and it was not necessary to apply 
any pressure from without in order to secure the attend- 
ance and hearty cooperation of the children. They were 
given a large measure of freedom in deciding how the vari- 
ous deities should be portrayed ; and they had to get their 
cues from their reading of myth literature. Now, there was 
no complaining among those children respecting their read- 
ing tasks. They attacked the Greek myths with a vim, 
which, if the like of it could be secured for all their regular 
school work, would enable them to do in four years, per- 
haps, what now takes them eight to accomplish. They were 
devoted to the work, and fervent in its performance, too, 
which was a sufficient gain in itself for all the trouble it 
cost the instructors and the parents. In a few months they 
acquired a knowledge of a number of the Greek gods and 
goddesses, which was more extensive and more faithful to 
the subjects than the typical college student possesses who 



DRAMATIZING WORK IN SCHOOL 407 

has simply studied big text-books on the subject. They 
had more than a mere verbal knowledge of mythology; 
they knew in a way how it felt to be Zeus and Ceres and 
Mercury, and all the others. As a matter of fact, genuine, 
workable, valuable knowledge of anything can be gained 
only by reacting upon the thing according to its nature in 
relation to the learner ; mere looking at it, or listening to 
or reading words about it, does not yield understanding that 
will be of service in the world. 

The writer predicts that dramatizing activities will come 
shortly to occupy a far more important place in school work 
than they now do in most places. The history and litera- 
ture classes will be constantly working out into dramatic 
form what they are studying. This principle, generally ap- 
plied in the schoolroom, . will break up th6 f ormahty of 
much of the work. The children who participate in these 
activities will not only gain a more vivid conception of the 
persons or events they are learning ; but they will at the 
same time acquire a freedom and readiness in expression 
which much of our formal school work stifles. How many 
persons brought up along traditional lines of memorizing 
words and reciting in history and literature have any power in 
assuming a character, and representing it effectively ? Most 
of us are too self-conscious for this ; we are afraid, when 
we are in the presence of others, to abandon our own formal 
personalities. We are stiff, conventional, inflexible. We 
would unquestionably get more out of life, and be less of a 
heavy weight on others, if we could be more pliant, capable 
of giving out a variety of tones, as it were, instead of be- 
ing incapable of rendering more than one. Freedom in dra- 
matizing in the school should give flexibility to personality, 
and stretch the ego in various directions. 

Teachers often say they cannot undertake this work in 
the school, since they cannot secure the necessary "pro- 
perties." They feel they must have a stage more or less elab- 
orately fitted out with scenery, and costumes suitable for 



408 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

the impersonations of gods and goddesses, fairies, and the 
tri ai ^^^®" Without question a dramatic representation 
"proper- becomes all the more real to a child if he can 
notessen- array himself in garments which make him out- 
^^^ wardly, in his own observation, to resemble his 

hero. When he actually sees himself decked out in the tog- 
gery of another, the momentary illusion that he is that other 
is made the more real therefor. Even adults are aided in 
make-believe by appropriate costuming, which strongly sug- 
gests the thing which is for the time being to be regarded 
as real. So if a teacher can have her children construct, or 
in some way secure, the paraphernalia suitable for the 
various deities to be represented, and the fairies, giants, 
heroes, and so on, her pupils will not fail to be benefited 
thereby in conceiving the scenes depicted in a more lively 
way. 

But it is not at all necessary, in order that pupils should 
enjoy their dramatizations and profit by them, that they 
should be provided with any accessories whatever. They 
will enter into the spirit of the drama with vigor without 
the aid of anything but their imagination. Once they get 
the feeling of freedom of impersonation, they will make use 
of any objects that may be at hand to express their concep- 
tions. A girl who is cast for Red Riding-hood will make a 
basket out of her apron, and will fold a paper for a hood. 
A boy will flop down on all fours and simulate a wolf, and 
another boy will find plenty of things about the school 
building which will serve him, when cast as a hunter, for a 
gun or a bowie-knife. Indeed, one may see some of the best 
work in dramatization where the pupils come right out of 
their seats in their own proper persons and garments, if 
only they are free in expression, and have gained some seK- 
confidence in playing a part. We need not hesitate to 
carry forward this work because we cannot have a well- 
appointed theatre in the schoolroom. 

This suggests the interesting and important movement 



THE INFLUENCE OF IMITATION 409 

now in progress to establish theatres in which the players 
and the audience are mainly children. These theatres are 
in a sense educational in purpose, the aim being to enact 
on the stage the best literature within the grasp of children, 
and suited to impress wholesome ethical lessons. The reports 
of those who are conducting such theatres are generally 
enthusiastic in favor of them. The children are always 
delighted with them ; and they exert a potent force for 
good in a normal way. It is a simple matter of psychology 
that one can best teach an ethical lesson effectively, espe- 
cially to children, by having them live through concrete 
situations in which their feelings are strongly aroused on 
the side of what is honest and wholesome and fair ; and the 
children's theatre makes it possible to accomplish this. The 
2)rinciple of the theatre can be and ought to be applied 
in every schoolroom, whether of elementary or high-school 
grade. 

Personation is in the large view prospective ; it is antici- 
patory of the future. It might be said to secure adaptation 
to the world in a vicarious way. If I reproduce personation 
the activities of the people in my environment, I yi^arioug* 
may adopt their adjustments without going all adjustment 
through their detailed experiments. Thus in this manner 
the results of experience in living may be passed on from 
one individual to another, and from one generation to an- 
other. I can cause a child of a year and a half to throw away 
food by a grimace indicating that it is disagreeable. He 
does not taste the food himself, but he accepts my adapta- 
tion to it as revealed in my expression which he reproduces, 
and he is in this way harmonizing himself with his environ- 
ment by utilizing my experience. 

The influence of imitation in determining the attitudes 
of children toward the social environment is seen in the fol- 
lowing characteristic instance. A girl of four years of age 
had acquired a respectful, childlike attitude toward her par- 
ents. But shortly after her fourth birthday she commenced 



410 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

to associate with an autocratic child, one who always " had 
her own way," and " bossed " her mother about a great deal. 
She rebelled against authority, was domineering and inso- 
lent often ; in short, she was a " spoiled " child. Now, in a 
very brief time the first child began to show the effects of 
keeping bad company. She rapidly assumed a different atti- 
tude toward her parents. If she had spent the afternoon at 
the home of her new-found companion, one would not need 
at night to ask her where she had been. Her conduct 
showed this plainly enough. This, in principle, is the way 
the individual acquires from his associates his attitudes 
toward the people in his environment, whether these atti- 
tudes be right or wrong, and whether advantageous or 
otherwise. 

In the same way a pupil comes to like a certain study or 
detest it in some measure because of the attitude of his 
teacher toward it. One teacher dislikes algebra and plainly 
shows it, and her pupils without knowing why, perhaps, 
grow to " hate " it. Another teacher loves algebra and is 
enthusiastic in her praise of it, and her pupils imitate her 
expressions and become enthusiastic over it also. It is 
probably true, as a rule, that what a great teacher admires 
heartily will have a strong attraction for his pupils ; and 
the principle doubtless applies to aU the concerns and in- 
terests of life. For instance, a freshman in college who 
joins a fraternity will soon acquire the attitudes of his 
fratres toward all the activities going on about him. If 
the fraternity looks favorably upon the Y. M. C. A. work, 
we will say, you will find the novitiate assuming that atti- 
tude before long. If, on the other hand, they scoff at this 
institution, you wiU observe that the new man soon does 
the same, though he may know little about its work. He 
adjusts himself without examination, by appropriating the 
adjustments of those nearest to him. 

In the first chapter attention was called to the fact that 
children of aU ages normally choose for their companions 



DOMINANT PERSONALITIES 411 

those of a dynamic nature, who are able "to do things." 
Persons of a static tendency, though " good " and " i-espect- 
able," are not commonly emulated by the young. Dominant 
In any community it will probably be found that personau- 
men of action, whatever this may be — men who commu- 
accomplish things — become dominant in the per- ^*^ 
sonations of the young. Ordinarily the minister does not 
in any important way determine the dramatic activities of 
young people, though he may be more potent in the lives 
of those approaching maturity. In a student community, 
those who are most studious are not the most prominent in 
the personating activities of the plastic members of the 
community ; but rather those who excel in athletics or ora- 
tory or even " deviltry " tend to become dominant. No 
matter where the young are found, — in the city, the vil- 
lage, the country, the school, the college, or the commercial 
establishment, — the ascendant personalities in their emu- 
lating activities are those who are bringing things to pass 
in the most obvious and emphatic manner. 

Cooley,^ discussing this particular point, illustrates it in 
an effective way. Speaking of the child's love of action, he 
says that " his father sitting at his desk probably seems an 
inert and imattractive phenomenon, but the man who can 
make shavings or dig a deep hole is a hero ; and the seem- 
ingly perverse admiration which children at a later age show 
for circus men and for the pirates and desperadoes they 
read about, is to be explained in a similar manner. What 
they want is evident power. The scholar may possibly be as 
worthy of admiration as the acrobat or the policeman ; but 
the boy of ten will seldom see the matter in that light. 

" Thus the idea of power and the types of personality which, 
as standing for that idea, have ascendancy over us, are a 
function of our own changing character. At one stage of 
their growth nearly all imaginative boys look upon some 
famous soldier as the ideal man. He holds this place as 
1 Human Nature and the Social Order, pp. 290, 291. 



412 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

symbol and focus of aggressive, contending, dominating im- 
pulses of vigorous boyhood ; to admire and sympathize with 
him is to gratify, imaginatively, these impulses. In this 
country, some notable speaker and party leader often suc- 
ceeds the soldier as a boyish ideal ; his career is almost 
equally dominating and splendid, and, in time of peace, not 
quite so remote from reasonable aspiration. In later life 
these simple ideals are likely to yield somewhat to others 
of a more special character, depending upon the particular 
pursuit into which one's energies are directed. Every occu- 
pation which is followed with enthusiasm has its heroes, 
men who stand for the idea of power of efficient action as 
understood by persons of a particular training and habit. 
The world of commerce and industry is full of hero-wor- 
ship, and men who have made great fortunes are admired, 
not unjustly, for the personal prowess such success implies : 
while people of a finer intellectual development have their 
notion of power correspondingly refined, and to them the 
artist, the poet, the man of science, the philanthropist, may 
stand for the highest sort of successful action." 

It is worthy of mention in passing that masculine person- 
alities, in modern society, seem to be more dominant in the 
Aromas- lives of girls than are feminine personalities in 
online or ^^j^g lives of boys. Indeed, feminine types appear 
personaii- to exert a less important influence upon girls 
inantwith themselves than do men. Girls personate mascu- 
tbe young ? jjj^g characters more freely than feminine, probably 
because the former are more prominent in actual life and in 
literature than the latter. In a coeducational college the 
women adopt the customs of the men more generally than 
the other way round. The masculine personality is unques- 
tionably made more dominant in modern life for both sexes, 
with the result, perhaps, that genuine feminine traits are 
declining in the race. It is concei viable that under a system 
of coeducation in which masculinity would constantly be 
made most conspicuous, and so be emulated by both sexes, 



THE DOMINANCE OF THE MASCULINE 413 

femininity would gradually be eliminated, or at least it 
would be fundamentally modified. " All studies," says 
Chambers,^ " combine to emphasize the appalling extent to 
which girls emulate male ideals, especially in the adolescent 
years. There can be no doubt that this tendency has pro- 
moted the disintegration of feminine character, and aggra- 
vated the excesses of the so-called 'emancipation of women.' 
The curricula, the books, and the instruction of our schools 
must be modified so as to supply a sufficient number of 
worthy feminine ideals for the girls, and in all places the 
peculiar womanly and domestic qualities of the sex must 
receive a more outspoken commendation and encourage- 
ment if the sex, aiid consequently the race, is to be restored 
to the condition of greatest health and progress." 

But there is another aspect to this matter. Our elemen- 
tary and high schools ^e staffed so largely by women that 
there is grave danger that boys will not have presented to 
them for emulation during their most impressionable years 
concrete masculine types. The situation is becoming all the 
more serious, since men are, as the years go on, playing 
a less and less important part in shaping the lives of the 
young in the home. Many a boy in urban communities 
does not see his father oftener than once or twice a week, 
and then not under circumstances so that he may enter into 
give-and-take relations with him. Consequently, such boys 
grow up to manhood without having come into genuine 
vital contact with any adults of the masculine persuasion. 
His models have been women, — his mother, his governess, 
his teachers. Foreigners predict that our masculine charac- 
ter will speedily decline under such a regime as this ; and 
there is surely just cause for apprehension. There is prob- 
ably greater danger of the disintegration of masculine than 
of feminine character in American life. It seems absolutely 
imperative that we should have a very much larger pro- 
portion of vigorous men in the schools than we now have 

1 "The Evolution of Ideals," Fed. Sem. Marcli, 1^03. 



414 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

in every section of the country, if we shall succeed in pre- 
serving the masculinity of our boys. 

Thus far we have spoken only of the general principle 
of imitation as it is illustrated in the ordinary phenomena 
imitauon of ^^ every-day life in childhood and youth ; but we 
^Mormai may, before leaving the subject, note especially 
the tendency of the young to reproduce undesira- 
ble physical traits as manifested in those about them. Here 
are a few typical instances, given by Russell and Haskell,i 
that show the disposition of children to copy more or less 
abnormal expressions in others, particularly their asso- 
ciates : — 

Girl, 9. L. until recently had a teacher whose under lip protruded. 
After a short time L. held her lip in the same position. Presently she 
was promoted. The teacher in the new room always kept her lips 
tightly drawn. L. gave up the old habit, and now goes with lips com- 
pressed. We cannot break her of the habit. 

Boy, 5. Last fall he went to school for the first time. Soon after, 
his mother noticed that he had a peculiar squint when very much in 
earnest. She found later that he got the habit from his teacher. 

Boy, 5. My little cousin took a great fancy to our English washer- 
woman. He soon caught her habit of dropping or inserting the letter 
" h," and used to sing, " Little Hannie Rooney is my sweet 'art." 

An adult makes the following confession : — 
When I hear an odd or striking note in music, my throat seems to 
go through the same strain as the singer's. I do not notice this until 
the music stops, when I find that my throat really aches from the 
tension. 

Nervous irregularities are contagious among the young. 
Cases are on record where stammering or involuntary mus- 
cular twitching in one pupil has passed swiftly through 
a whole school. Instances like the following might be cited 
db libitum : — 

When I was four years old, a boy who lived next door stammered 
badly, and soon had all the children in the vicinity stammering. It 
was only by means of great exertion that mamma kept me from being 
a terrible stammerer. 

^ See their " Child Observations," First Series, Imitation and Allied Activ- 
ities, in which are described, with comment, 1208 examples of imitative 
activities, graded according to age. 



NERVOUS AND MORAL DISORDERS 415 

Girls, 12-15. In 1894, in the Orphan Asylum at , New Jersey, 

there was a little girl who had chorea. In a short time after her com- 
ing, several boys began to imitate her for sport. The habit soon spread 
to her friends, as well as to those who were making sport of her, A 
large number of children were affected. After the little girl was sent 
away from the asylum the choreic movements in the others ceased 
gradually, except in the case of one child, who was sent to the Asylum 
for the Feeble-minded as incurable. 

Girls, 14-19. In a certain city high school one girl was affected with 
a spasmodic twitching of the eyes, involving movements of the cheeks. 
She was a favorite, and soon several of her friends showed signs of 
the habit. Later, not only her friends, but all who were much in con- 
tact with her were affected. At the end of the year this girl went 
away, and signs of the habit began to die out. The writer caught the 
habit in a mild form, but " broke off " when she found " how it 
looked." Another girl was less fortunate. When the movements of her 
eyes ceased, her head began to jerk. 

We do not need to dwell longer upon the proposition 
that nervous and moral disorders are contagious ; the ques- 
tion now is, How may these maladies be con- ^j^^ 

trolled ? It is significant for our present discussion quarantine 

. ^ , . , , of nervous 

that every progressive country to-day has rigid and moral 

laws relating to the control by isolation of infec- ^*^°'''^*'* 
tious diseases. If a man in any of our communities should 
be attacked by smallpox, say, the board of health in that 
community, representing the citizens, would at once deprive 
the individual of his freedom. It would prevent any person 
except those caring for him from communicating with him 
directly, by word of mouth, by letter, or in any way in 
which he might spread his disease. Society proceeds in this 
way, of course, in order to protect itself from destruction. 
It acts on the principle that when any one is a source of 
physical danger to his fellows he forfeits his right to move 
freely among them. If the unfortunate person himself or 
any member of his family should protest against the treat- 
ment he receives, the community would pay no heed to 
such objection. If some theorist should claim that the 
group has no right to deprive one of its members of his 
liberty, his view of the case would be ignored. Self-protec- 



416 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

tion on the part alike of the individual and of society is 
the first law of life ; and through long ages of tribulation 
and misfortune we have come to appreciate that this law 
applies to the control of infectious diseases. In those parts 
of the world where people are too sentimental or not 
sufficiently enlightened to protect themselves by quarantine, 
we see the unhappy outcome in the spread of plagues and 
epidemics which so frequently destroy entire communities. 

As an extension of the general principle of self-protec- 
tion, we see that advancing countries have taken steps to 
safeguard the health of school children. In Germany and 
France especially there is thorough medical inspection of 
the schools, with the view in part to detect at the outset 
contagious diseases, and isolate the children who have them 
so they will not infect their schoolmates. In England there 
is, as we write, a bill before Parliament to establish a 
national system of medical inspection, the primary purpose 
of which is rigorously to control infectious diseases. In the 
more progressive cities in our own country there is sys- 
tematic medical inspection. The health authorities in these 
cities pay no heed to the remonstrances of a parent or 
a sentimentalist when a child suffering with a communi- 
cable disease is excluded from a school, and quarantined in 
his own home or in some appropriate institution. Wherever 
this system of medical inspection with quarantine has been 
tried, the only attitude of the people is to perfect it, never 
to abandon it. 

The principle of self-protection is being carried still fur- 
ther in some of the progressive countries. In London, for 
instance, there is in operation a plan whereby physicians 
visit the schools and examine the children for the purpose 
of detecting nervous disorders, such as St. Vitus Dance, 
stuttering, and the like. When any cases of these are found 
they are at once removed from the schools and placed in 
special institutions. In many cities at home and abroad, the 
plan of self-protection has been extended so as to provide 



NERVOUS AND MORAL DISORDERS 417 

for the elimination from the regular schools of children who 
are backward in their work, or who have deviated from the 
normal in moral development. It is capable of ready de- 
monstration that a boy who is deficient intellectually, though 
he may not be feeble-minded, is a source of infection to 
normal children with whom he comes in close contact in the 
classroom. He tends to set a standard for the normal indi- 
viduals, though they do not consciously imitate him. A 
large part of all that exerts a vital influence upon the con- 
duct of children does not become defined in consciousness 
in any explicit sense ; it is a matter of suggestion simply. 
This is peculiarly true in respect to nervous, intellectual, 
and moral defects, which makes quarantine in regard to 
these disorders absolutely imperative. 

Now, go into the schools in most of the smaller cities 
and villages anywhere in our country, and you will certainly 
find pupils who are two or three grades behind 
their proper class. The teachers will tell you that tion in our 
these pupils cannot do the work assigned them, 
and they are a constant source of trouble. They hold back 
the children who are capable of working more rapidly and 
effectively, and consequently they are a cause of waste of 
schoolroom energy ; and what is worse, they are the means of 
developing vicious mental habits in normal pupils. No matter 
what may have occasioned their deviation, they are a nui- 
sance in the schools. In accordance with law they are com- 
pelled to go to school, and there is no place to put them 
except with normal individuals. A teacher recently said 
that three backward boys in her room consumed practically 
all her time and strength, while the children who could 
profit best by her instruction were failing to get what was 
their due. 

But unfortunate as the situation is in respect to back- 
ward children in the schools, it is far worse in respect to 
those who are morally delinquent. One may see boys in the 
schools of many of our cities and towns who corrupt all the 



418 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

children with whom they come in contact. Among other fail- 
ings, they smoke cigarettes and are vulgar in speech and in 
action. They sit in the schoolroom and caricature the teacher 
when she is giving a moment's attention to some other 
pupil. Just as infectious diseases spread against all resist- 
ance when the infected person is in contact with others, so 
the influence of the perverted boy permeates a school in 
spite of all that can be done to counteract it. The situation 
is especially deplorable among us, since our schools are for 
the most part in charge of women, who cannot supervise 
the playgrounds and congregating places of the boys, so 
that the evil-minded individual is left free to spread moral 
infection wherever he goes. 

If one should venture to recommend that a special school 
be established in a village for this class of boys, he will find 
that certain persons will claim that such a school would 
be undemocratic. " No child ought to be humiliated by 
being put into such a school," they say ; " we have got on 
well enough in the past ; let us not now adopt any new- 
fangled ways." This in plain speech is shallow sentimen- 
talism. If a boy breaks into a house and robs, we do not 
think it undemocratic to send him to the reform school ; 
but if he is corrupting his classmates, and making it im- 
possible for the school to do its work, then we are told it 
is " aristocratic " and " autocratic " to protect ourselves by 
isolating him. 

This sentimental attitude works harm to every one con- 
cerned. These boys who are a source of moral contagion in 
the school are every day going from bad to worse, 
sentimen- They are constantly in a hostile attitude toward 
dealing the work of the school. They are made conscious 

aormai^\u- ^^ *^^ ^^^^ *^^^ ^^^^ ^^® exceptional; and by 
dreninthe a fundamental law of human nature they resist 
those who attack them and impute meanness to 
them, with the result that they grow continually meaner. 
They would destroy the school and the teacher if they 



SUB-NORMAL CHILDREN 419 

could, for they cannot adjust themselves to its demands, 
either intellectual or moral. So their aim is to sow the wind, 
to exalt disorder, to resist authority. This is but natural ; 
we all plot ao;ainst the individual or the institution that we 
feel is opposed to our interests. 

The situation with us is all the more serious, since, as stated 
above, our schools are in feminine hands. It will be granted, 
of course, that women can do for children a great many 
things which men cannot do for them ; but in most schools 
there are boys who need a kind of treatment which women 
cannot possibly give them. Women do not know what boys 
of this sort require anyway ; and they could not administer 
the medicine even if they knew what was appropriate. But 
put these boys under men who know boy nature, and who 
have made it their business to study the conditions that pro- 
duce backwardness and deviation, and what will be the re- 
sults ? The thing has been done in some places at home, and 
here and there abroad, and we know what can be accomplished 
for such boys. The first transformation which occurs in 
them, according to the writer's observation, is that they 
begin to take an interest in the work of this special school, 
which should be worked out on a mascidine plan. There is 
usually some study of nature at first hand, and a good deal 
of manual work, without which it is practically impossible 
to reach backward or wayward boys and influence them for 
good. Some of the roughest boys have gone through one 
such school which the writer has studied, and they have 
come out capable of making an honorable living, and get- 
ting on peaceably with their fellows. So it is far better for 
the boy himself, as well as for the community, that he should 
be put into the ungraded school than that he should keep on 
in the regular school for which he is entirely unfitted. 

The principle in question here has universal application 
in all social education. Wrong action of any sort when put 
before children tends to be absorbed by them, on account 
of their imitative disposition, unless hostility to it can be 



420 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

aroused. Even then it often persists in the attention of 

those who behold it, until finally it may become expressed 

Does a copy i^ the conduct of some of them. Many persons 

presented to ]iave the experience that when they see an in- 

the young ^ ■"• . . "^ 

lor imita- dividual who has a peculiar facial expression, say, 

times ' they can with difficulty prevent themselves from 
"tuif ti imitating the expression, even though they may 
action ? not wish so to do ; and even though they struggle 
against it they may, in an unguarded moment, execute it. 
Whatever is seen or heard that makes an impression upon 
the observer is likely to keep bombarding consciousness 
imtil it gets itself realized in appropriate action. This is the 
very essence of imitation, which is in childhood primarily, 
though not entirely, a more or less subconscious process. 

Of course, if any act which is perceived by a child 
awakens in him strong impulses to act in the opposite 
direction, the result may be that instead of imitating the 
copy he may become more firmly set against it. This in 
social education may operate in two very different ways. In 
the first place, if the representatives of the school or the 
church arouse antagonism in the individual, they will be 
likely to develop in him a settled tendency to do just the 
reverse from that which is desired of him. If the teacher is 
precise and accurate in speech, the pupil may deliberately 
strive to be slovenly and inaccurate in his own speech. If 
the minister will not use profane language, the boy on the 
street who reacts against him may devote himself to the 
acquisition of a vocabulary of profanity. One often sees 
persons in a community who take pleasure in consciously 
doing the opposite of the church people among whom they 
live, and who, instead of being reacted upon as models for 
imitation, are the means of inciting just the contrary atti- 
tudes from their own. In the same way, religiously inclined 
persons are usually strengthened in their special tendencies 
by observing those of contrary inclinations with whom they 
are really, though they may not be outwardly, in conflict. 



RESUM]^ . 421 

This tendency for the individual under certain conditions 
to act in a hostile way to the copies set before him may 
serve to develop in him social attitudes when he observes 
one in whose conduct are exhibited anti-social traits. For 
example, the teacher, wishing to awaken in her pupils 
antagonism toward cigarette-smoking, may hold up before 
her class for their observation a typical case of the vice she 
desires her pupils to avoid. Or she may take her children 
to see specimens of drunkenness in a barroom or on the 
street ; or she may describe a case so vividly that it can be 
readily imaged by her auditors. Often one sees moral and 
ethical teaching proceed on this principle, and at times the 
end aimed at is undoubtedly attained. But it is equally 
probable that on many occasions the " horrible example " 
presented to the young becomes fixed in their attention, 
and in time, if not immediately, is imitated more or less 
completely. At best there is danger in putting before the 
young while they are still very plastic concrete types of 
ethical and moral error, though the danger is much less, 
speaking generally, during adolescence, and especially in 
maturity. However, it might be decidedly dangerous to put 
before youth definite examples of licentiousness ; for then 
the organism is especially sensitive to this sort of thing, 
and the individual is exceedingly plastic with reference to 
it, so that it may easily fasten itself in his attention and 
become a model for imitation. Whenever at any point in 
development the individual's nature makes him especially 
susceptible to any form of social, ethical, or moral errancy, 
it is at least perilous to attempt to awaken hostile attitudes 
in him toward the thing in question by showing him concrete 
illustrations thereof. 

In any biological group the exceptional individual generally arouses 
the antagonism of the group, unless he be accepted as a leader. The 
group wishes to secure homogeneity among its members, and , 
it penalizes those who do not conform to group customs, 
standards, attitudes. The deepest impulse in an individual, perhaps, at 



422 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

least in his early years, is to assimilate the fundamental traits of the 
group into which he is born ; and this he does through imitation. 

The young child imitates mainly the simpler bodily attitudes and 
vocal and facial expressions of those with whom he is in vital contact. 
As he develops he imitates ever more complex activities of a social, 
political, ethical, aesthetic, and industrial character. The novice always 
reproduces only the elemental characteristics, not the differentiated 
details, of any activity. In the beginning it is the doing of an act, not 
the results thereof, that interests the individual ; the reverse is usually 
true in maturity. 

Personation is the chief activity in childhood. Any living thing the 
child has seen or heard described may be personated. However, com- 
plex social and other attitudes of human beings are not personated j 
until maturity is approached. From the simple to the more complex I 
holds in personation as in other activities. The child not only person- 
ates living things, but he freely constructs them in his fancy, objec- 
tifies them, and then reacts as though they were real. Thus he will 
" imagine " his nursery chair is a bear, and he will in make-believe 
conduct himself as though it actually were such. 

Plato condemned the personation by children of human beings of an 
unworthy type, as rogues, comedians, etc., and also animals, as dogs, 
roosters, and the like, since this, he thought, would arrest their devel- 
opment into the highest type of human beings. But to-day we realize 
that in make-believe a child may play many parts, but preserve his 
own proper personality intact. 

In his personating activity the child increases the amplitude of his 
powers, stretches his personality, gains the point of view of those per- 
sonated, and appropriates their adjustments. In a certain sense he 
pre-adjusts himself to his environment. The best way to learn a thing 
is to endeavor to assume its personality, and to react as it would in 
any given situation. 

It is encouraging to note the introduction into the schools of drama- 
tization of myths and fables, and even literature and history. This 
work should be greatly extended. Every school should be provided 
with facilities for the dramatic treatment of literature, history, etc. 
But elaborate "properties" are not in the least essential to efficient 
work of this character. 

The dominant personalities in any community, so far as the young 
are concerned, are always those who are conspicuously dynamic, though 
there is usually a change in this respect with development. However, 
even in maturity the individual is dominated by those who are most 
effective in the fields of action in which he is specially interested. 
Masculine more than feminine personalities are, as a rule, dominant 
for both sexes, though our present-day social and educational regime 
is tending to eliminate masculine types for the emulation of the young 
in home and school. 



r:6sum:^ 423 

Expressions of abnormal as well as normal traits are freely imitated 
by the young. This means that for social well-being all individuals who 
are ethically and morally sub-normal should be quarantined. Special 
ungraded schools or rooms should be established in every community; 
these will prove a blessing, alike to exceptional children and to those 
who are normal. 

Sometimes copies presented to the young for emulation may incite 
directly contrary conduct. The representations of the church, the 
school, etc., should be capable of securing positive responses from 
the young ; otherwise they will spread disrespect and disorder with 
regard to the fundamental institutions of society. On the whole, it is 
a dangerous practice to present to the young concrete types of immoral 
conduct in the effort to arouse hostility thereto. 



REFERENCES FOR READING 

The purpose kept constantly in mind, in the preparation of the 
following list of books and articles, has been to suggest those, 
easily accessible for the most part, which bear quite directly upon 
the problems of social development and education as they have 
been discussed in this volume. It has not been the intention 
to present an exhaustive bibliography of the literature in this 
particular field ; on the contrary, the greater portion, perhaps, of 
such literature has purposely not been mentioned at all. The 
primary reason for omitting so many references that discuss in 
some manner the social, ethical, or moral training of children is 
that they do not consider the subject from the standpoint taken in 
the present volume. Of course, no one will infer from this state- 
ment that it is thought these other points of view are not worth 
taking ; certainly they are. But it has seemed best herein to keep 
quite closely, in the reference list as well as in the text, to the 
naturalistic way of looking at child development and education, 
to the end that this point of view may be given the emphasis 
which it appears to merit. 

The aim in selecting these references from all the available 
books and articles has been to make a reading list which would 
not seem too elaborate, and especially not too technical for the 
average student or practical person, parent or teacher or law- 
maker, who might wish to get a glimpse, at least, of what has 
been contributed to the subject by ancient as well as by modern 
writers upon education, and also by contemporary psychology in 
its various phases, child-study, anthropology, sociology, evolution, 
and autobiography. The author has attempted to choose the best 
typical references in these several fields, — the best, considering 
the needs of those who will probably be specially interested, theo- 
retically and practically, in the development and training of 
children in respect to their social adjustments. Without doubt 
some readers will question why certain references have been 
omitted ; but the author appreciates that it is entirely impossible to 
make a select bibliography in any field which will in details meet 
the approval of all who may be interested therein. The personal 
factor necessarily plays a more or less prominent role when the 



REFERENCES FOR READING 425" 

relative values of various books is being determined. But if any 
reader should feel that certain references which are lacking in 
this list should have been included, he is requested kindly to 
remember that those that are presented treat the subject in hand 
from a rather special point of view, and that they have been 
chosen because they seem to present a given topic more effectively 
than other books. 

For the convenience of those who may not be familiar with the 
literature in this field, the general character of each reference is 
denoted as follows : (1) Classical writers on child training by 
AE ; (2) modern writers on general education by ME ; treatises 
dealing solely with ethical, moral, or social education by EE ; (3) 
references on ethical theory, without special regard to education 
by ET; (4) references on religious theory or education by RE ; 

(5) psychological references, general and experimental, by P ; 

(6) sociological references by S ; (7) contributions from child- 
study, which includes a wide variety of references not conveniently 
classified under (2), (3), (4), (5), or (6), by CS ; anthropological 
literature by A ; evolutionary literature by D ; and autobiographies 
by X. Some of the references should be mentioned in two or 
more of these groups, and this fact is appropriately indicated. 

Adams : Relation of the School Studies to Moral Training. In 

the Third Year Book of the National Herbart Society, 

pp. 73-100 (EE). Chicago (1897), University of Chicago 

Press. 
Addams: Democracy and Social Ethics (S, EE). New York 

(1902), The Macmillan Co. 
Abler : The Moral Instruction of Children (EE). New York 

(1895), The International Education Series, D. Appleton 

&Co. 
Ajldrich: The Story of a Bad Boy (X). Boston (1892), 

Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
Amicis : Cuore, The Heart of a Boy. Translated by G. Mantel- 

lini (X). Chicago (1899), Laird & Lee. 
Angell: Psychology, chaps, xvi-xxii (P). New York (1905), 

Henry Holt & Co. 
Aristotle : Politics. Translated, with an Analysis and Critical 

Notes, by J. E. C. Welldon. Book IV, chaps, xiv-xvii, and all 

of Book V (S, AE). New York (1897), The Macmillan Co. 



426 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION " 

Baglet: Classroom Management, Part I (ME). New York 

(1907), The Macmillan Co. 
Baldwin: Mental Development in the Child and the Race; 

Methods and Processes (P, CS). New York (1895), The 

Macmillan Co. 
Social and Ethical Interpretations in Mental Development : 

A Study in Social Psychology (P, S, ET, CS) . New York 

(1897) , The Macmillan Co. 
Barnes : The Child as a Social Factor (CS) . In Studies in 

Education, edited by Earl Barnes, vol. i, pp. 355-360. 
Children's Attitude towards Theology (CS) . In Studies in 

Education, edited by Earl Barnes, vol. ii, pp. 283-307. 
Children's Ideals (CS) . In The Pedagogical Seminary, 

vol. vii, April (1900), pp. 1-12. 
Punishment as Seen by Children (CS) . In The Pedagogical 

Seminar]/, vol. iii, October (1895), pp. 233-245. 
Bashkirtseff : The Journal of a Young Artist, translated by 

Mary J. Serrano (X). New York (1889), Cassell & Co. 
Bell : A Study of the Teacher's Influence (CS) . In The Ped- 

agogial Seminary, vol. vii, pp. 492-525. 
Binet : La Suggestibility (P) . Paris (1900) , Colin. 
Birney: Childhood (EE). New York (1905), F. A. Stokes Co. 
Blow : Symbolic Education ; A Commentary on Froebel's 

"Mother Play" (ME). New York (1895), International 

Education Series, D. Appleton & Co. 
BoHANNON : A Study of Peculiar and Exceptional Children (CS). 

In The Pedagogical Seminary, vol. iv, pp. 3-60, October, 

1896. 

The Only Child in a Family (CS). Ibid. vol. v, p. 475. 

Bouser: Chums; A Study in Youthful Friendships (CS). In 

The Pedagogical Seminary, vol. x. 
Briggs: School, College, and Character (ME). Boston (1901), 

Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
Bryan : Nascent Stages and their Pedagogical Significance (E) . 

In The Pedagogical Seminary, vol. vii, pp. 357-396. 
Bryant: The Teaching of Morality (ET, EE). London 

(1897), Swan Sonnenschein & Co. 
Buck: Boys' Self-Governing Clubs (EE). New York (1903), 

The Macmillan Co. 



REFERENCES FOR READING 427 

BuRK : Teasing and Bullying (CS) . In The Pedagogical Semi- 
nary, vol. iv, pp. 336-371. 

Butler : The Meaning of Education, chap, i (ME) . New York 
(1903) , The Macmillan Co. 

Carpknter : Affection in Education (EE) . In The Interna- 
tional Journal of Ethics, vol. ix, pp. 482-494. 

Chamberlain : The Child : A Study in the Evolution of Man 
(D, A, CS). London (1900), The Walter Scott Publish- 
ing Co. 

Chambers : The Evolution of Ideals (CS) . In The Pedagogical 
Seminary, vol. x, pp. 101-143. 

CoE : The Spiritual Life : Studies in the Science of Religion 
(RE). New York (1900), Eaton & Mains. 

CoMPAYRE : Development of the Child in Later Infancy. Being 
Part II of The Intellectual and Moral Development of the 
Child. Translated by Mary E. Wilson (P, EE). New York 
(1902), International Education Series, D. Appleton 
&Co. 

CoOLEY : Human Nature and the Social Order (ET, EE) . New 
York (1902), Charles Scribner's Sons. 

Croswell : Amusements of Worcester School Children (CS) . 
In The Pedagogical Seminary, vol. vi, pp. 314-371. 

Darrah : Children's Attitude toward Law (CS) . In Studies in 
Education, edited by Earl Barnes, vol. i, pp. 213-216, 
254-258. 

Dawson, George S. : Children's Interest in the Bible (CS) . 
In The Pedagogical Seminary, vol. viii, pp. 151-178. 

A Study in Youthful Degeneracy (CS). In The Pedagog- 
ical Seminary, vol. iv, pp. 221-258. 

Dewey: Ethical Principles tFnderlying Education (ET, EE). 
In the Third Year Book of the National Herbart Society, pp. 
7-34. Chicago (1897) , University of Chicago Press. 

The School and Society (ME). Chicago (1900), Univer- 
sity of Chicago Pr^ess. 

Dewey and Tufts: Ethics (ET). New York (1908), Henry 
Holt & Co. 

Du Bois : The Natural Way in Moral Training (EE) . Chicago 
(1903), The Fleming H. Revell Co. 



428 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

DuTTON : Social Phases of Education in the School and the 
Home (EE). New York (1900), The Macmillan Co. 

Ellis : Sunday School Work and Bible Study in the Light of 
Modern Pedagogy (RE, CS). In The Fedagoyical Semi- 
nary, vol. iii, pp. 363-412. 

Ellis and Hall : A Study of Dolls (CS) . In The Pedagogical 
Seminary, vol. iv, pp. 129-175. 

Fakrington: The Public Primary School System of France 

(ME). New York (1906), Teachers College, Columbia 

University. 
FoRBUSH : The Boy Problem, A Study in Social Pedagogy 

(S, CS). Boston (1907), The Pilgrim Press. 
Frear : Class Punishment (CS). In Studies in Education, 

edited by Earl Barnes, vol. i, pp. 332-337. 

Graham : The Golden Age (X) . New York (1898), John Lane. 
Griggs: Moral Education (EE). New York (1905), Huebsch. 
Groos : The Play of Man (P. A). Translated with the author's 

cooperation by Elizabeth L. Baldwin. New York (1900), 

D. Appleton & Co. 
GuLiCK : Psychological, Pedagogical, and Religious Aspects of 

Group Games (P, CS). In The Pedagogical Seminary, 

vol. vi, pp. 135-151. 
GuNCKEL : Boyville : A History of Fifteen Years' Work among 

Newsboys (P, CS). Toledo (1903). Toledo Newsboys' 

Association. 
Guyau : Education and Heredity (ME). Translated from the 

second edition by W. J. Greenstreet, with an Introduction 

by G. F. Stout. London (1891), The Contemporary Science 

Series, The Walter Scott Publishing Co. 

Hall : Adolescence, its Psychology and its Relation to Physi- 
ology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Religion, and 
Education, chaps, x-xvii. (P, S, A, CS, EE). Two vols. 
New York (1904), D. Appleton & Co. 
Children's Lies (P, CS). In The Pedagogical Seminary, 
vol. i, June, 1891. 



REFERENCES FOR READING 429 

Hall : Moral Education and Will-training (EE). In The Ped- 
agogical Seminary, vol. ii, pp. 72-89. 
Anger (P, CS). In the American Journal of Psychology, 

vol. X, pp. 511-591. 
The Moral and Religious Training of Children and Adoles- 
cents (EE, RE). In The Pedagogical Seminary, vol. i, 

pp. 196-210. 
Hall and Smith : Showing OfiE and Bashfulness (P, CS). In 

The Pedagogical Seminary, vol. x, June, 1903. 
Hanus : A Modern School (ME). New York (1904), The Mac- 

millan Co. 
Harris : The Relation of School Discipline to Moral Education 

(EE). In the Third Year Book of the National Herbart 

Society, pp. 58-72. Chicago (1897), University of Chicago 

Press. 
Harrison : A Study of Child Nature from the Kindergarten 

Standpoint (ME). Chicago (1895), Chicago Kindergarten 

College. 
Henderson: Education and the Larger Life (ME). Boston 

(1902), Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
Herbart: Outlines of Educational Doctrine (AE). Translated 

by A. F. Lange ; annotated by Charles DeGarmo. New 

York (1901), The Macmillan Co. 
Hughes: Dickens as an Educator (EE). New York (1901), 

International Education Series, D. Appleton & Co. 
Froebel's Educational Laws (AE). New York (1897), 

International Education Series, D. Appleton & Co. 

James : The Principles of Psychology, chaps, iv and xxiv— xxvi 

(P). Two vols. New York (1907), Henry Holt & Co. 
Pragmatism (P, ET). New York (1907), Longmans, 

Green «fe Co. 
Johnson: Educationby Plays and Games (ME). Boston (1907), 

Ginn & Co. 
Johnson, John Jr. : Rudimentary Society among Boys (S, EE). 

Overland Monthly, October, 1883. 
Jones : Sociality and Sympathy (P, A). In The Psychological 

Review, vol. v. 
JuDD : Genetic Psychology for Teachers (P), chaps, iv and v. 

New York (1903), D. Appleton & Co. 



430 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

Ejdd, Benjamin : Social Evolution (D, P, ET). New York 

(1894), Macmillan & Co. 
KiDD, Dudley : Savage Childhood, chaps, v-viii (P, A, S). 

London (1906), Adam & Charles Black. 
King : The Psychology of Child Development (P, CS). Chicago 

(1903), The University of Chicago Press. 
KiRKPATRiCK : Fundamentals of Child Study (P, CS). New 

York (1904), The Macmillan Co. 
Kline and France: The Psychology of Ownership (P, CS). 

In The Pedagogical Seminary, vol. vi, pp. 421-470. 

Locke : Some Thoughts concerning Education (AE). With In- 
troduction and Notes by R. H. Quick. London (1892), 
Cambridge University Press. 

LoTi : The Story of a Child (X). Translated from the French 
by Caroline F. Smith. Boston (1902), Birchard & Co. 

Lyttleton : Instruction of the Young in Sexual Knowledge 
(EE). In the International Journal of Ethics, vol. ix, 
No. 4, pp. 453^67. 

MacCunn : The Making of Character ; Some Educational 
Aspects of Ethics (EE). The Cambridge Series for Schools 
and Training Colleges. New York (1900), The Macmillan 
Co. 

Major : First Steps in Mental Growth (P, CS). New York 
(1906), The Macmillan Co. 

Mark : Individuality and the Moral Aim in American Education 
(ME, EE). The Gilchrist Report presented to the Victoria 
University, March, 1901. New York (1901), Longmans, 
Green & Co. 

Mill : Autobiography (AE, X). New York (1887), Henry Holt 
&Co. 

Montaigne : The Education of Children (AE). Selected, trans- 
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International Education Series, D. Appleton & Co. 

Morrison: Juvenile Offenders (S, EE). New York (1897), 
D. Appleton «& Co. 

Palmer: The Teacher (ME), chaps, i-iii. Boston (1908), 
Houghton Mifflin Company. 



REFERENCES FOR READING 431 

Paulsen : A System of Ethics ; translated and edited by Frank 

Thilly, Book II, chaps, vi-viii, and Book III, chaps, i, ii, vi, 

viii-xi (P, ET). New York (1899), Charles Scribner's 

Sons. 
Payot: La Morale a l'£cole (EE). Paris (1907), Armand 

Colin. 
Pecaut: L' Education Publique de la Vie Nationals (ME). 

Paris, Hachette. 
Pierre : L'Education Morale (EE). In Revue Pedagogique, 

July 15, 1900. 
Plato: The Republic, Books ii-v (AE). Translated by 

Alexander Kerr. Chicago (1902-1907), Charles H. Kerr 

&Co. 
Plutarch : Morals (AE) . Edited by Wm. W. Goodwin. Five 

vols. Boston (1871), Little, Brown «& Co. 
Puffer: A Study of Boys' Gangs (CS). In The Pedagogical 

Seminary, vol. xii. 

Ross: Social Psychology (S, P). New York (1908), The Mac- 
naillan Co. 

Social Control (P, S, EE), A Survey of the Foundation of 

Order. New York (1901), The Citizen's Library of Eco- 
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Rousseau : Emile ; or A Treatise on Education (AE). Abridged, 
translated, and annotated by Wm. H. Payne. New York 
(1893), International Education Series, D. Appleton & Co. 

RoTCE : On Certain Psychological Aspects of Moral Training 
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RuGH et al. : Moral Training in the Public Schools (EE). Bos- 
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Russell and Haskell : Imitation and Allied Activities (CS). 
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ScoTT : Social Education (EE). Boston (1908), Ginn & Co. 



432 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

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REFERENCES FOR READING 433 

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McClure, Phillips & Co. 
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Pedagogical Seminary, vol. iii, pp. 134-156. 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS, PART I 

Based on Chapters I-VIII inclusive 
I. SOCIABILITY 

1. In what respect does the infant distinguish between ob- 
jects and persons ? between persons in general and his mother 
and nurse ? In the beginning does he realize that objects are 
to be used merely ? What is the evidence upon which your 
answer is based ? 

2. Do the children of primitive tribes manifest greater 
desire for the companionship of adults than do the children of 
advanced peoples ? Or is it the other way around ? Try to 
account for any difference which exists between them. 

3. Does the child's attitude toward persons change when 
he begins to walk, and so to move about freely among them ? 
If so, just what change takes place, and why? In the same 
way, say whether his attitude toward persons changes when 
he begins to talk so that he can be understood. 

4. Are children of five, say, more sociable toward their 
pets, as puppies and kittens, than toward their brothers and 
sisters ? In what situations would a typical child choose to 
be with pets rather than with people ? What is the basis 
for this interest in pets ? 

5. What is the real attitude of babies described as 
" good" who, if properly cared for, will lie in their cradles 
apparently feeling no need of companionship, even after 
reaching the age when they know, and in a way appreciate, 
the mother and the nurse ? 

6. How far does physical attractiveness in the alter influ- 
ence the expression of sociability on the part of a child of 
five ? of a boy of seventeen ? of a girl of the latter age ? of 
an adult? 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 435 

7. Which is more favorable to the development of gen- 
uine sociability in children, parents who are dynamic or 
those who are relatively neutral in a social sense ? Why ? 

8. Does a markedly dynamic boy of inferior social station 
in any community appeal to the typical girl of seventeen 
more strongly than a neutral boy of high social standing? 
WiU she ignore the social stratification of her community 
in favor of the former ? If so, why ? 

9. What answer would you give to the following ques- 
tion, asked by a high-school principal : — 

Is it not often true that groups of boys from the age of eighteen on- 
ward insist upon including in their parties unusually attractive girls 
of lower social standing in the community rather than the girls with 
whom they habitually associate ? 

If this is the case, how may we account for it ? Is it 
different in city as compared with country groups ? 

10. If adolescent boys are really more "liberal" than 
girls in their social groupings, why are they so willing (as 
many say they are) to accept the group limitations deter- 
mined largely by the girls with whom they associate? 

11. Can a child of wealth, who is richly provided with 
good clothes, toys, and other luxuries, be kept humble and 
sociable toward his less favored associates by the admo- 
nition simply of wise parents ? Give specific instances to 
illustrate your opinion. 

12. The State of Nebraska conducts a large number of 
corn-growing contests among farmer boys from fifteen to 
twenty-one years of age. The State Superintendent says 
that the boys form clubs for this purpose, but are actuated 
largely by the desire to secure money prizes. Why should 
the financial factor seem more important to the boys than 
the social one? Mention other apparently purely social ac- 
tivities of boys in which the financial factor is really the 
dominant one. Are country boys more eager to obtain 
money than city boys ? Why ? 

13. Is the effort to curb high-school fraternities wise ? 



436 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

(a) Are the standards and ideals of the fraternities adapted to 
the needs and interests of high-school students ? 

(6) Are social distinctions certain to be drawn in high schools, 
even if fraternities are abolished ? 

(c) How far can pure democracy (or sociability) in a high school 
be stimulated or restricted by arbitrary commands or rul- 
ings of authorities ? 

14. Are college fraternities and sororities of benefit to 
a college community as a whole ? Are they of benefit to 
their individual members ? Is there a more democratic spirit 
in non-fraternity than in fraternity colleges ? Give concrete 
evidence in support of your position. 

15. From the point of view of the development of socia- 
bility in childhood and youth discuss : — 

(a) The gymnasiums and reading-rooms connected with churches 
in certain communities. 

(b) The Y. M. C. A. athletic clubs found in many cities. 

(c) Inter-denominational ball games for boys. 

(d) Any similar efforts to coordinate athletics, sociability, and 
religious spirit. 

16. " Mere static goodness is not rated high among chil- 
dren." Is it so rated among adolescents ? among adults in 
business ? in education ? in religion ? Is it the same in the 
country as in the city? 

17. In groups formed by girls, is it often the case that 
individuals are left alone more because they hold themselves 
aloof than because they are not wanted in the group ? Give 
concrete instances in illustration of your answer. 

18. Does the child's choice of companions differ accord- 
ing to his needs at any moment; as, for example, when he 
desires sympathy, does he seek out a particular member of 
the group or the family ? When he wants a " good time," 
does he seek out a different person ? etc. 

19. Would the presence of mother or father mean any- 
thing at all to the child if such presence were abstracted 
from the service rendered? Just what would lead the 
child to differentiate people from things if the former did 
not minister to his wants? 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 437 

20. "Girls admire most those boys who are good in 
books." Is this quotation, taken from a recent educational 
book, true ? Discuss the matter in the light of definite con- 
crete cases with which you are familiar. 

21. Do parents as a rule insist upon one standard of 
behavior when there is " company " in the house, and another 
standard when there is no one present but the family? 
What effect does such training have on the social develop- 
ment of children? Is it of advantage to children to have 
much "company" in the home? Is it of advantage in 
youth? Compare city and country children in this respect. 

22. Is the increase in self -consciousness, which appears 
at adolescence, the cause of "clothes talk" among girls? Is 
there anything like this among boys? Do country girls 
pass through a "clothes-minded" period? Describe the atti- 
tudes of a girl who has "clothes on the brain." 

23. Give your opinion in response to the following ques- 
tion asked by a parent : — 

My two little daughters are the direct opposite of one another in 
respect to their interest in clothes. The older one has now and has always 
had, a decided love for pretty things, while the other manifests no 
such interest. Why should there be this difference, both having been 
reared under the same influences ? 

24. Is it true that girls often "take up" with new-found 
associates who have good clothes, but who have little if any 
skill or initiative in " doing things " ? 

25. Do all children strive to secure the good- will of their 
fellows? When they fail so to do, what is the reason? 
Describe a child you know well who does not have the good- 
will of his feUows, and show why he does not. 

26. Present-day mothers are often advised to leave their 
children alone very much of the time during the first year 
or two of life. What would be the effect of such a method 
of training upon the social development of a child? Have 
you known children who have had this experience? If so, 
describe their social tendencies. 



438 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

27. "A child is pleasurably affected in the presence of 
his mother because he feels her to be a friend." How early 
can a child distinguish between "friends" and others? 
Upon what data does he make such a distinction? Upon 
what data do you make such a distinction ? 

28. Does the typical two-year-old child prefer an adult 
to a child of his own age as competitor in his plays? What 
determines whether an adult or a playmate will be pre- 
ferred? Do boys of ten, say, enjoy having their teachers 
for playfellows? Why, in any case? How is it with boys of 
fifteen? with girls of the same age? 

29. Is it true of the adult as of the child, that he may fre- 
quently be spiteful and aggressive in the home, yet on the 
street be habitually gentle and docile toward members of 
the family? What principle is involved in your answer? 

30. Do children who " naturally put on airs " ever become 
humble and modest? If so, indicate the developmental 
forces which produce the change ? Describe a case of this 
sort you have known intimately. 

31. Are crippled children, those who cannot play, ever 
favorites with normal children ? Are such unfortunates left 
aside entirely? How about the boy who has lost a leg in an 
accident, for instance ; is he ever a leader of a group ? Is 
such a boy ever admired because he has only one leg, and 
is regarded as a hero? Be specific and concrete in your 
discussion. 

32. Is the popular saying true, that most boys who take 
pride in being poor in scholarship are leaders in school 
activities outside the classroom? Discuss this question in the 
light of data furnished by the pupils you know best. If it 
is true, what is the explanation ? 

33. Which is more favorable to the development of gen- 
uine sociability in children, teachers who are dynamic or 
those who are relatively neutral in a social sense ? Why ? 

34. Is there any relation of cause and effect between 
one's occupation in maturity and his sociable tendencies ? 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 439 

Give numerous concrete illustrations in support of your 
view. 

35. What qualities in an adult make him a " natural" 
leader of children ? Describe at least five such natural leaders 
whom you know well. Also describe at least one person 
whom you know who has made a failure in his attempts to 
lead children. 

36. Are the qualities essential for leadership of children 
of eight also essential for leadership of adolescent children ? 
Have you known persons who could easily impress and in-- 
fluence young children but who could not make an impres- 
sion upon high-school students ? If so, explain the case. 

37. If it were possible for a strictly male community to 
develop a very complex social organization, would such de- 
mocracy as is usually seen in lumbering and mining camps 
prevail? Why? 

38. Is there a difference between young boys and young 
girls in their charitable tendencies in sociability ? How is it 
with boys and girls at adolescence ? Describe instances you 
have known of genuine charity in the sociable expression 
of children. 

39. Why do young children normally tell " family secrets" 
to strangers whenever they have an opportunity so to do ? 
Do city and country children differ in their tendency to com- 
municate with acquaintances and friends? Is there a differ- 
ence between boys and girls in this respect ? If so, how can 
this difference be accounted for? 

40. Why do certain people always act contrary to the 
views and the desires of the groups of which they are mem- 
bers ? Would it be better for themselves and for their groups 
if they were more conformable to group sentiment ? Describe 
in detail at least two persons of this kind. 

41. Why are certain persons more given to " gossip " 
than others ? Are women more likely than men to indulge 
in " gossip" ? Or is it the other way around? If there is a 
difference, what conditions have produced it ? 



440 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

42. Why are practically all persons, adults as well as 
children, so eager to communicate " news " ? Have you 
known people who were not inclined to do this? If so, try 
to account for them as exceptions to the rule. 

43. Do children tell tales on each other primarily for the 
purpose of making the alter suffer, or of gaining commen- 
dation and approval by making themselves for the moment 
important through the imparting of information which will 
interest others, especially their elders ? 

44. Does a child of eight, say, normally show that he 
takes account of public opinion in regard to such a thing as 
theft ? What is the evidence, pro or con f 

45. In trying to gain permission to "do things," does a 
child usually cite to his parents or his teacher other chil- 
dren who are permitted to do what is denied him? If so, 
point out the social meaning of such a tendency. 

46. Comment on the following incidents furnished by an 
observer of children ; — 

(a) I have in mind a babe who when he was only three and one 
half months old would, upon the return of his father at noon, 
kick, coo, and lift his little hands in order to have his father 
take him. The same babe, at six months of age, when left 
with his father while his mother went down town, cried un- 
ceasingly. The father tried in every way to appease him, but 
he cried all the harder. Finally, the father left him alone 
in the house, and went down town for the mother. As soon 
as she appeared, the babe stopped crying. 

(i) My little nephew, three years old, runs to his mother when- 
ever anything unpleasant happens to him or whenever he wants 
anything. But whenever he sees his father he will manifest the 
greatest enthusiasm. He will always do whatever his father 
asks him in preference to the requests of his mother. His 
father takes him to the barn and allows him to ride the horses ; 
and he also plays with him in a rough-and-tumble manner. 

47. Discuss the following : — 

The desire for companionship is an inheritance from an ancestry 
that must have sought it in order to survive. 

48. A certain girl in the third grade of a city school 
desires while at school to be alone constantly. She does not 



(^ 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 441 

seem happy in the presence of otlters. In her home she is 
exceedingly social with all the members of the family, but 
" shy " of strangers. Might she be regarded as a non-com- 
municative type ? What may be the cause of her reticence 
at school, and her tendency to be " distant " toward un- 
familiar persons ? What advice would you give her parents 
and teacher respecting the training of this child in her 
social relations ? 

49. What would be the proper course for a teacher to 
pursue in dealing with the following instance of ostracism 
among children, often seen in group relations, as in large 
schools : — 

In the seventh grade of a public school there was a little foreign girl, 
who did exceptionally good work, in the neatest possible manner. She 
was always dressed nicely and " behaved " very well ; and yet the girls 
in her class were unfriendly toward her. One day, these girls assem- 
bled at recess and decided that she was " likable," but as she was a 
foreigner they could not associate with her. She learned of this and 
wept bitterly, but this did not affect the girls at all. 

50. Do the children of markedly intellectual parents 
regard the dynamic abilities of their playmates as highly as 
do the children of parents of moderate intelligence? Do 
the former children place chief value upon mental superi- 
ority in their social groupings earlier than do the latter chil- 
dren ? Describe concrete types of children referred to in 
this question. 

51. What proportion of the children you know well pre- 
fer to gather about themselves groups of rather static ad- 
mirers instead of more dynamic groups of " thingers " ? 
Are there sex differences in this respect? Do the "brighter" 
children incline to be learners or teachers ? Does the situ- 
ation change in the course of development ? 

52. Have you ever noticed a desire upon the part of chil- 
dren to associate with others who are inferior to them in 
physical and intellectual ability ? If so, how would you ex- 
plain their interest ? 



442 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

53. Do friends (adults as well as children) usually or 
ever take pleasure in tattling upon each other ? Why ? 

54. Does the suppression by the group of the unconven- 
tional or non-conformable type of person operate to prevent 
the development of valuable ideas and inventions ? Does the 
typical school tend to do this too greatly? Be specific in 
your answer. 

55. What principle is illustrated in the following testi- 
mony of a parent : — 

My little boy was always determined to run on ahead when walking 
with me, though later in life he proved to lack none of the social qual- 
ities. 

56. Suppose that the child of the millionaire will play 
gladly with the child of the day laborer ; does not the role 
which each takes in this play show some appreciation of dif- 
ferences in social status? Describe a situation in which a 
boy from a wealthy home plays with a boy from the home 
of a workingman, pointing out the role which each takes in 
the play. 

57. Describe an adult who manifests sociable feeling 
toward those who can be of no possible service to him. En- 
deavor to state just what is the source of the friendly feel- 
ing in such a case. 

58. Could you be sociable with a neutral human being, — • 
one who could teach you nothing, or who could not assist 
you in attaining any objects you desired, or who could not 
gratify your aesthetic or other interests, or upon whom you 
could not practice any social activity ? Look about among 
your friends and note whether their sociable impulses are 
strongly expressed toward those who are relatively neutral. 
What qualities in your associates arouse the strongest so- 
ciable feeling on your part ? 

59. To what extent do you commune with the " people 
of your fancy " ? Do you ever actually converse with these 
imaginary persons ? Would you often rather hold commun- 
ion with ideal than with flesh-and-blood personages ? Discuss 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 443 

this matter in respect to the changes that have occurred 
since you were a child. 

60. Are the adults you know best (including yourself) 
guided in their social adjustments mainly by public or by 
individual opinion ? How can you tell which sort of opinion 
weighs most heavily with them ? Make out a list of the acts 
you perform in response to public sentiment. 

II. COMMUNICATION 

1. Is " no impression without expression " more true in 
childhood than in adolescence? than in maturity? Show 
the bearing of your answer upon the tendency to communi- 
cate in childhood and in youth. 

2. Does the typical child communicate more freely with 
his father than with his mother ? Or is the reverse true ? 
Is there any change in this regard as development proceeds ? 
Are there certain kinds of experience which are habitually 
shared with the father, say, and other kinds which are shared 
with the mother? If so, why? 

3. Does an adult who appears to bear misfortunes with- 
out complaint outgrow the desire of his youth to be recog- 
nized as a hero or a martyr ? What proportion of the adults 
you know intimately " keep their trials absolutely to them- 
selves " ? Give typical concrete instances. 

4. How old would you think that boy to be who, when 
his teacher pointed out that his seatmate had done better 
work in the arithmetic test than he, said, " Well, I can wal- 
lop him, anyway " ? Was he a typical boy? 

5. What differences may be noticed in the freedom and 
the character of the communications of a boy of ten who 
has lived a secluded life with his grandparents, and the 
typical boy who has had brothers and sisters, and who has 
had intimate contact with boy companions at school and on 
the street? Describe specific cases you have observed. 



4M SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

6. It is a common saying that wine and cigars encourage 
friendly communicability among men. If this be true, how 
can we account for it ? In this connection comment on the 
significance of " The Pipe of Peace " ceremonies in frater- 
nal organizations, college societies, and the like. 

7. Why is reticence usually thought to indicate greater 
wisdom in a person than volubility ? Have you known of 
instances proving the reverse of this ? 

8. What is the significance of the policy of the United 
States government in providing two lighthouse keepers at 
lonely stations where the work to be done might readily be 
accomplished by one? 

9. What effect has the life of the lonely sheep herder on 
the vast ranches of the West upon his desire to communize 
his experience with his fellows ? Do you know whether the 
cowboy is contented when he leaves the plains, and takes 
up his residence in the city ? 

10. Give a detailed account of how any particular inven- 
tion or discovery of service to mankind is made known from 
one end of the world to the other. Make out a list of all 
the ways in which knowledge is spread among men. Is 
"news" disseminated by the same agencies? Does "news" 
travel faster than knowledge ? If so, why ? Is the average 
man more eager to read his daily paper than a new scientific 
book presenting fresh facts and principles of vital concern 
to him in daily life ? Why ? 

11. Is it of greater importance in American life to-day 
that a man should be keenly sensitive to public opinion on 
any question than that his grandfather should have been ? 
Why? 

12. Comment on the following testimony from an obser- 
vant mother : — 

The relations between my daughter (now aged tweuty-one) and 
myself have always been close and sympathetic. There was no period 
in her development when she was in any degree reticent in her confi- 
dences, but instead, from babyhood to maturity she has come to me with 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 445 

all her perplexities and troubles, whether of slight or of great import. 
Has this been due to peculiarly sympathetic relations between us ? Is 
she an exceptional person ? 

13. Do you know of exceptions to the following prin- 
ciple ? Describe occasions when this principle has been re- 
versed, according to your observations, and explain if you 
can : — 

The individual is readier in insisting upon the alter bearing the pains 
and penalties of his misdeeds than in receiving rewards for his good 
actions. 

14. Is the following experience, described by a woman, 

a common one : — 

When a child of eight years I was devotedly attached to a boy of 
about the same age, and he to me. Other children did not " guy " us 
for our affection. I am sure we differentiated in our affections between 
boys and girls. 

15. Have you observed cases like the following : — 

I have in mind a clergyman, a scholar in his particular field, who 
seems very much interested in the petty gossip of his neighborhood, 
more so indeed than the " common " men of the community are. 

16. Comment on the following typical case of childish 
insubordination : — 

I am boarding in a family where there is a boy aged eleven years. 
There is constant conflict between him and his parents concerning his 
conduct. The boy insists upon having his own way, until very forceful 
measures are taken by his parents to compel obedience. It seems to be 
pure meanness on his part. 

Does the fact that this boy lives in a boarding-house bear 
upon the question of his opposition to the wishes of his par- 
ents? 

17. Write out in detail what meanness in children im- 
plies in respect to their relation with people ? Are mean 
children horn so, or made so? Give specific instances to 
illustrate your answer. 

18. Is this statement, made by a superintendent of schools, 
true according to your observation ? Give concrete evidence 
pro or con : — 



446 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

Young children seem more anxious that others should share in their 
own experiences, than that they themselves should share in the experi- 
ences of their fellows. 

19. What answer will you give to this question, asked by 

an observer of children : — 

Is not the child's reputation in regard to his tendency to communi- 
cate everything due largely to his lack of appreciation of a suitable 
time and place in which to express himself ? 

20. What is your opinion on this point : — 

Is the fact that the boy at adolescence shows less disposition to eom- 
munize than does the girl due entirely to adolescent changes ? 

21. Are boys of eighteen or so normally interested in 
debating clubs ? Would they rather " argue " without obser- 
ving Robert's rules of order? Does a boy tend to argue more 
or to argue less with his mates after he joins a debating 
club? 

22. Does the necessity of " looking out for themselves " 
early in life cause much of the reticence seen in certain 
persons, boys as well as girls, as they approach maturity ? 
Does it help or hinder freedom in communicability to be 
early thrown on one's own resources? Describe specific 
cases of this sort you have known. 

23. Go over the lives of the persons with whom you 
have grown up, and present some positive evidence bearing 
upon the vital problems indicated in the following ques- 
tions. Do not let preconception determine what evidence 
you will select. 

Is not the attitude of the home largely responsible for any child's 
insisting upon having his own way ? 

Should not the home, in some respects at least, be toward the boy 
more like the " gangs " whose suggestions he so readily follows ? 

The " gang " views his conduct with much more indifference than 
the typical parent seems able to. 

24. Have you known pupils who seemed to be pleased 
when their classmates received higher marks than they did 
themselves ? Are pupils often satisfied with a low grade, if 
others in their classes are still lower ? Discuss the bearing 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 447 

of your answers upon the plan of giving marks to pupils, 
showing whether social development is helped or hindered 
thereby. 

25. How do particular individuals in a college community 
influence the general opinion of a student body ? 

(a) Study the editorials of a college daily ; in how far do they 
reflect or antagonize prevailing opinion ? How far do the 
suggestions contained in the editorials have weight ? 

(b^ What types of college students most largely influence the 
opinions of the student body ? 

26. In any class of students, observe the individuals 
thereof in the effort to select those who are communicative 
and those who are apparently reticent? Try to account for 
the difference in freedom of expression. How does each 
affect the group ? Does the communicative student listen 
patiently while his mates express themselves? Discuss this 
fact : In most universities graduates of normal schools are 
" called down " by their classmates for continually " butting 
in," as the college slang puts it. Why should normal grad- 
uates be readier in expression than others? 

27. To what extent can " bashfulness " be overcome by 
effort on the part of an individual ? Do not theorize on this ; 
base your answer on concrete evidence. 

28. Discuss the responsiveness of individuals in the com- 
munity you know best to the following sentiments : — 

(a) Group scorn of a boy " who will not fight." 

(b) Group scorn of " sissy boys." 

(c) " When you are in Rome, do as the Romans do." 
(c?) "Forget a man's past : never a woman's." 

29. What characteristics must a man possess in order 
successfully to stand out against community sentiment on 
a matter of politics ? of religion ? of morality ? Give exam- 
ples from history in which this has been done. 

30. What is the result upon the social ideals of the 
young of society overlooking the moral shortcomings of men 
like Burns and Byron ? 



448 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

31. To what extent are children normally inclined tc 
shield their playmates in their wrong-doing? Is there a 
change in respect to this matter as development proceeds ? 
How is it in the high school ? in the college ? 

32. What do you think is the real reason why the child 
wishes all those about him to take such an attitude as he 
himself takes toward any object or experience ? 

33. When a man makes an important discovery and 
derives pleasure from publishing the fact, is this pleasure 
of a purely personal character, or does it arise out of his 
unselfish interest in the discovery itself? Illustrate with 
specific instances. 

84. Are children who are very diffident, and who never 
make advances to strangers, likely to be all the more ex- 
pressive in the home ? Do men who talk but little out in 
the world have a good deal to say in the home, and vice 
versa ? How is it with women ? 

35. Do children learn an ethical or moral lesson all the 
more readily when they are unconscious of the fact that 
their teachers are seeking to impress such a lesson ? Why ? 

36. What are the predominating principles of right and 
wrong which boys of ten or so make use of in determining 
whether an act performed by a member of the group 
should be praised or censured ? Describe specific cases. 

37. What proportion of the adults in the communities 
you know endeavor to realize in their own beliefs and con- 
duct the ideals of the community ? What proportion try 
to win over their associates and the public to their own 
views and standards of behavior? 

38. Do children before the age of adolescence feel cha- 
grined if older people take no notice of them ? If so, how 
do they show their displeasure ? Is there any change in this 
matter at adolescence ? 

39. Are the following cases typical or only exceptional? 

I have known a number of cases of boys who, during the adolescent 
period (from fourteen to eighteen), would never say a word at dinner- 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 449 

table about the happenings of the day at school or elsewhere, but after 
eighteen or nineteen their whole attitude seemed to change. They be- 
gan to talk about their affairs and became interesting conversationalists. 

40. Is it true that every person normally has a certain 
field of activity in which he feels thoroughly at home, al- 
though he may be bashful and ill at ease in every other 
social situation ? 

41. Is the regard for public sentiment greater among the 
educated than among the uneducated members of the com- 
munity? Are college trained people as a rule conformists 
or nonconformists in respect to conventionalities in matters 
of dress, or daily conduct, or rehgion, or morals ? Do revo- 
lutionary suggestions in government come usually from the 
most or the least educated people in a country ? 

III. ETHICAL ATTITUDES 

1. How does the child discover that others may suffer pain 
in any situation as he may himself ? Discuss this question in 
respect to definite concrete instances you have observed. 

2. Give concrete illustrations, taken from the lives of 
older children, which tend to show that the reaction of the 
alter upon the individual's expressions furnishes him his 
most important data for gaining the notion that the alter 
is possessed of desires and needs like his own. 

3. What are the social implications of the term "cru- 
elty " ? Describe a genuine case of cruel action you have ob- 
served on the part of a child, and say why he should have 
been guilty of it. 

4. Discuss the social and educational bearings of the policy 
of offering for good conduct such rewards as the following : 

(a) A mother says to her two-year-old child : "Baby may go 

down town if he stops crying." 
(6) A father says to his ten-year-old son : " You may have an 

ice-boat, if you get your lessons perfectly." 

(c) Giving honors to pupils for perfect attendance at school. 

(d) Excusing students from examinations if they attain a high 
standingr in class work. 



450 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

5. Cite, if you can, concrete examples of children on 
whom the promising of rewards for good behavior has had 
an unwholesome influence. Describe these cases in detail. 

6. What principle of ethical development is illustrated 
in a child whipping his rocking-horse or drowning his toy 
soldiers ? 

7. How does the influence of a counselor, as the minister 
or the ' teacher, who advises ethical conduct, become trans- 
formed into principles of action for the child ? Work out a 
specific case illustrating the principle. 

8. Name at least ten concrete experiences which a typ- 
ical ten-year-old boy might have, and which would help to 
establish right ethical attitudes on his part. 

9. What is the social significance of the appeal to students 
and even faculty, heard so frequently in the present-day 
high school and college, — "Come out and support our team." 
Is such an appeal ever heard in the elementary school? 
Discuss the developmental principle involved in your an- 
swer. 

10. Discuss the ethical value for a child of eight of his 
joining a church. For a youth of fifteen. For a man of 
twenty-five. 

11. What would you say was the ethical effect upon a 
willful son of an angry father saying to him, — " Well, if 
you won't learn anything from me, you '11 get it pounded 
into you out in the world " ? 

12. Which most stimulates ethical growth in children, — 
repressive measures, punishments, etc., or commendatory 
measures, approving words, etc. ? Give concrete examples 
to illustrate your answer. 

13. Does the study of a subject like algebra contribute 
to the development of concrete ethical sentiment ? Be defi- 
nite and detailed in your answer. 

14. Discuss the principle involved in 13 in respect to 
the study of (a) physics, (6) history, (c) Latin, (c7) gram- 
mar, (e) composition, (y) domestic science, ((/) drawing, 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 451 

(7i) geography, (i) botany, (j ) spelling, (k') bookkeeping, 
(^) stenography, (m) music, and (w) English literature. 

15. " During the early weeks of life a child is concerned 
solely with the interests of self." What is the effect upon 
his ethical development of his mother urging him to respond 
to her expressions ? 

16. Does it help or hinder a child's social development 
for adults to stimulate him to social reactions of one sort or 
another ? Give concrete instances illustrating your view. 

17. Say whether the following experience of a school 

principal is typical : — 

I remember that for a number of years after leaving the normal 
school I never faced a situation in teaching without asking myself, 
" What would Miss D. do ? " (Miss D. was the supervisor of practice.) 

Give instances from your own experience to illustrate 
the principle. 

18. Will the typical child of three choose to be in re- 
sponsive relations with persons most of the time in contrast 
to his playthings ? Under what conditions will the child leave 
persons for his toys. Discuss these questions in respect to 
children of different ages, up through the adolescent period. 

19. Discuss vivisection in respect to — 

(a) Its influence upon the ethical sentiment of those who per- 
form it. 

(J) Its influence upon the ethical sentiment of the community in 
which it is practiced. 

(c) Say whether children are instinctively in sympathy with or 
hostile to vivisection, and whether there is any change in this 
regard as development proceeds. 

20. What is the influence upon the ethical sentiments 

of children of the following sorts of experience : — 

(a) Living in the vicinity of slaughter-houses, or witnessing the 

butchering of hogs or cattle on the farm. 
(J) Participating in barbecues and the like. 

(c) Being in attendance upon an execution of a human being by 
hanging or otherwise. 

(d) Being in a home or a school where corporal punishment is 
frequently administered. 



452 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

21. In the case of the child of A. J. H., mentioned on 
page 55, would it have been better for the parent to have 
used means other than moral suasion to secure the desired 
action ? Discuss the matter in detail, pointing out the effect 
upon the child's ethical development of different methods 
of treatment. 

22. Do inanimate objects exert any influence on the 
ethical development of the child ? Consider in this connec- 
tion the boy's tin soldiers, the girl's doll, and so on. 

23. What is the effect on the child's ethical develop- 
ment of having little or no masculine influence in his train- 
ing in the home or in the school? 

24. Point out just what is the essential difference, if any, 
between masculine and feminine influence in ethical train- 
ing. 

25. Give a number of definite concrete instances show- 
ing that the interests of the individual and of the group 
are or are not identical. 

26. Give a number of concrete instances showing that 
the ego does or does not act for the approval of the alter 
and for nothing else. 

27. Discuss the principle involved in the following inci- 
dent : — 

Not long ago I smiled at a boy of nine, a perfect stranger, who, sit- 
ting near me in a public place, was gazing at me ; and he immediately 
asked me if I would have some candy which he had in his pocket. 

28. Discuss the following question, asked by a minister 

of the gospel : — 

Do not all men have the feeling that if they help humanity in thi& 
life, they will be rewarded in the future life, — men who make little 
pretense to religion, but who in their inner consciousness rely on their 
good deeds to save them ? 

29. What principle of ethical development is involved 

in the following observation of a police captain : — 

A boy left to run the streets frequently has no conscience regarding 
stealing, telling lies, and playing truant ; but with his fellow compan- 
ions in crime he will be honest and sympathetic ? 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 453 

30. Discuss the following question asked by a school 

principal : — 

Do not religious teachers sometimes go too far in their efforts to 
make the bad boy good ? Is it not the fault of these teachers that they 
do not make the right kind of an appeal to individuals ? 

31. Is it true that a considerable proportion of minister's 
children speak disrespectfully of religious ceremonies, such 
as " long prayers," " heavy sermons," and the like ? Why 
should they feel this disrespect? 

32. What is the ethical value in the child's development 
of having pets to play with and to care for ? Do those who 
care for animals on the farm have keener ethical sentiments, 
speaking generally, than those who have no such experi- 
ences ? Do those who cultivate plants receive ethical benefit 
from their care and culture? Is there any ethical value to 
be derived from taking care of delicate, expensive china 
or books or furniture? In discussing these questions take 
pains to avoid being unduly influenced by conventional 
beliefs in respect to them. 

33. Discuss "graft " from the point of view of the iden- 
tity of the interests of the ego and the alter. Describe 
specific cases of "graft" in considering this problem. 

34. Do punishments for evil deeds make a more lasting 
impression on a child than rewards and praise for good 
deeds ? Work this out in respect to your own development. 

35. To what extent is the child's early sense of right 
based upon what is pleasure to himself? Is it different in 
maturity? In how far does the child think that is wrong 
which is hostile to his personal interests? Is it different in 
maturity ? 

36. Describe the ethical attitudes of children who give 
some of their possessions to their playmates, and soon cry for 
them again. Do adults ever exhibit such an attitude as this ? 

37. Which is it, harmful or otherwise for teachers and 
parents to cultivate in children the tendency to tell every- 
thing in their experience ? 



454 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

38. Discuss the principle involved in the following inci- 
dent : — 

My little niece, nearly six years old, visited me during Christmas 
vacation. She had been told by her mother to say "thank you" when 
helped at the table. She was very careful to do so during the first 
meal; but at the second meal she neglected to do so. Her aunt noticed 
it, and showed her disapproval, whereupon the little girl said, " Well, 
I see M. (an older member of the family) does not say ' thank you,' 
and why should I ? " 

39. Does the child continue to think that inanimate 
things have feelings after he discovers that they do not 
react to him as persons do ? Give the evidence upon which 
your answer is based. 

40. When does the child first show that he distinguishes 
between the kinds and degrees of feeling shown by " dumb 
brutes " as contrasted with persons ? 

41. Do people ever reach a point where they act with- 
out regard to how the alter may feel toward them and their 
deeds? If so, endeavor to account for their peculiar atti- 
tudes. What experiences have they had which have devel- 
oped this attitude ? 

42. A correspondent says : — 

I have observed that in every family of three or four children or 
more, some one is more generous and thoughtful than the others. This 
is almost always the oldest child. The youngest is usually the least 
thoughtful of the welfare of others, generally caring only for his own 
pleasure. 

Will this proposition hold for the typical family ? Dis- 
cuss the entire matter, producing concrete evidence in 
support of whatever position you take, and giving an ex- 
planation therefor. 

43. " Children often tell falsehoods so that they may not 
forfeit the good opinion of some friend." Why do not all 
children prevaricate under similar conditions ? 

44. Discuss the following: " Cooley states that the ego 
always acts with a view to securing approval of the alter, and 
hence he is not selfish. But is not this a selfish attitude ? " 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 455 

45. Is there any difference, from the child's point of 
view, between a so-called altruistic act, when it secures him 
pleasure, and a so-called selfish act, when it also secures 
him pleasure ? If there is a difference, how has it become 
established ? 

46. Would an act ever be considered right or wrong if 
it were not for the reaction of the alter f "Work the prob- 
lem out in detail. 

47. Respond to the following inquiry of a mother : — 

If the child's experiences teach him that altruistic action will pro- 
mote his interest, is he not thereby educating himself in selfishness ? 

48. Comment on the following instance of apparent al- 
truistic action : — 

I have frequently seen a child of about two and one half years of 
age offer his doll or other toy to a playmate, when he was not looking 
for any reward from the one whose good-will he apparently desired 
to have. 

49. Comment on the ethical significance of the fol- 
lowing : — 

A number of children, my own among the number, were playing on 
the banks of a creek, when one child of six years of age fell into the 
water. His brother, a little older than himself, at once went to his 
rescue, losing his own life thereby. Does this not show that a child 
may feel the needs of the alter are greater than his own ? 

50. Explain the following case : — 

I had a high-school pupil who could not adapt himself to his en- 
vironment in school, and who at all times imagined himself imposed 
on by his fellows and his teachers. He was bright in his work, but did 
grudgingly whatever he was asked to do. 

IV. JUSTICE 

1. Make out a list of all the conditions under which you 
believe you are entitled to claim as your own any object you 
now possess, or any object you may acquire henceforth. In- 
dicate any changes that have taken place in your own con- 
ception- of the right of possession of property or objects of 
any sort ? Why have you changed your views on this subject ? 



456 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

2. Have you had any conflict with the representatives of 
government in your community regarding the question of 
ownership of personal or real property? Have you known 
of others who have had such a conflict ? If so, present the 
point of view of each party to the controversy, and show 
why there should be a difference of opinion. 

3. Have you known of children who have learned to 
** take their turn," and respect the rights of others, without 
being resisted in their aggressions ? How have such chil- 
dren gained their notions of " fair play," of the " rights 
of others," and the like ? 

4. Have you ever known of a person, whether child, 
youth, or adult, who did not have to be resisted in respect 
to any of his desires ? If so, try to trace the developmental 
history of such a person, in the effort to discover what ex- 
periences he had that enabled him to get on without arous- 
ing opposition on the part of any one. 

5. Think over the people whom you know best (includ- 
ing yourself) : are those who most easily awaken opposition 
in their associates of greater service to their fellows than 
those who awaken but little resistance to their advances? 
Are political, religious, educational, moral, and other re- 
formers resisted in their efforts to secure change in exist- 
ing practices. Why? 

6. Can one " do things " in the world without arousing 
antagonism on the part of those who are affected thereby ? 
If so, show how, by presenting concrete examples of persons 
who have succeeded in this ; and describe their methods. 

7. Study a group of children of eight or nine years of 
age at play ; note whether the spirit of justice prevails in 
the group as a whole, and among individual members. Give 
in detail the concrete evidence upon which your answer is 
based. Repeat these observations upon groups (a) of boys 
twelve or thirteen years of age ; (6) of girls of the same 
age; (c) of boys and girls playing together; (c?) of boys 
and girls in the high-school period. 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 457 

8. Write out an account of the experiences in your life 
that have been most potent in developing the sense of fair 
play. Take into consideration lessons by parents, teachers, 
and others, suggestions from books, give-and-take relations 
with your fellows, the example set you by persons you have 
admired or respected, the loss of the good-will of your 
associates through egoistic action, and the like. Are you 
still in a learning attitude in regard to fair play ? What 
kinds of experience are having an influence for good upon 
you? 

9. Are adults more ready in insisting that burdens 
should be equalized than that benefits should be ? Is the 
typical college professor, say, apt to complain when the 
salary of his colleagues is increased while his own remains 
stationary, while he is quite satisfied when he receives a 
"raise" without any one else being favored? Have you 
known adults who would " make a great fuss " if they 
were compelled to shovel off their walks the first thing in 
the morning, while some one else on the street left his snow 
on half a day, but who would try to justify their action 
when they themselves left their snow lying while others 
cleaned the walks promptly ? Discuss the principle in re- 
spect to a number of the common activities of daily life. 

10. Have you observed any cases like the following : — 
" My daughter was a child who seemed to make all her 
social adjustments without conflicts. No matter what her 
environment was on any occasion, she adjusted herself to 
it without friction." Is it probable that this testimony 
from a mother must be discounted a good deal ? Why ? 

11. Comment on the following from the standpoint of 
the development of the sense of responsibility : — 

I know a young boy who unintentionally shot and killed his play- 
mate, and who, although fully exonerated by all concerned, was so over- 
whelmed because of his act that he ended by taking his own life. He 
seemed to be a normal boy. Why did he not excuse himself because 
©f his innocence, so far as motive was concerned ? 



458 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

12. At what period in their development do children in- 
sist most strongly on their own rights ? Does the boy insist 
upon his rights more strenuously than the girl ? In respect 
to what matters or situations do children of different as:es 
demand that their rights be respected ? 

13. Have you known individuals who had apparently 
reached the stage when they could view the interests of the 
self impartially, and deal with it as strictly as with the 
alter f Describe the attitudes of such an individual in some 
critical social situation involving conflict between the ego 
and the alter. 

14. " Justice demands that every person should receive 
pleasure and pain according to his deserts." Does the con- 
ception that the ego should receive pain according to his 
deserts develop pari passu with the idea that the alter 
should receive pleasure according to his deserts, and vice 
versa ? 

15. Have you known of people with whom the concep- 
tion of equality of rights and responsibilities had extended 
beyond the members of any class, so that it embraced all 
people ? 

16. Discuss this question : — 

Is not the sense of justice somewhat perverted in persons who pro- 
fess to grant to others social and other liberties of action which they 
would not condone in themselves ? 

IT. Why are some children so slow in learning that they 
may not infringe upon the rights of others, while other 
children learn this lesson quite readily ? Discuss this ques- 
tion by describing the training which individuals, illustrat- 
ing these different types, have had. 

18. Is the sense of justice in a group of boys largely in- 
fluenced by the relative physical strength of its individual 
members ? Is it true that " what might seem fairly just 
conduct in the case of the strongest member of the group 
may not be so considered in the case of a weaker mem- 
ber?" 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 459 

19. Do we require the genius to observe principles of 
justice to the same extent that we do mediocre people ? Or 
do we as a rule feel that unusual ability entitles one to un- 
usual rewards and liberties ? In the same way, do we excuse 
men in high places for offenses against rules of fair play, 
when we would condemn ordinary men for similar offenses ? 
Discuss this whole matter in aU its aspects. 

20. Comment on the experience of a teacher, who writes 
as follows : — 

I spent one year without success trying to get a boy fourteen years 
old, who insisted upon doing all the reciting, running on every errand, 
and the like, to see that he was not fair to his classmates. Reasoning 
did not help him. What method should I have adopted in dealing 
•with him ? 

21. Most of our bad boys are mean because society thinks they 
are so. The boys feel they can be no worse in our estimation by their 
doing their very worst. As they say, " we have the name, we may 
as well have the game." 

This is a rather popular sentiment these days. It is given 
expression in one form or another in books and articles, and 
on the platform. Take some specific cases of " meanness " 
in boys, and discuss them from the point of view of the 
above statement. 

22. Does the fact that young girls when playing with 
boys often condemn the latter for acts of injustice show 
that they develop the sense of justice earlier than boys do ? 
What does it show ? Does the fact hold for boys and girls 
of all ages ? Does it hold for men and women ? 

23. To what extent do grown people overestimate their 
own needs and merits when dealing with children ? Give 
concrete cases to illustrate your opinion. 

24. Comment on the principle involved in this testimony 
from a teacher : — 

Does a child really ever take pleasure in seeing another punished, 
even if that other has hurt him ? It seems to me he is really sorry for 
the other, and ashamed of having told on him, and uncomfortable 
down in his heart. He often seems to try to draw the displeasure of 



460 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

the parent on the other children, yet cries or acts ashamed while the 
punishment is going on. I have heard my little sister say, when her 
younger brother was being punished because of some injury done her, 
— "Well, of course you don't need to hit him hard." 

25. Discuss the following statements in the light of your 

own first-hand observations : — 

It seems to me that the child does not always side with the one in 
need of help. In a group of children the victorious combatant is usually 
admired and followed. This is perhaps more true with girls in their 
quarrels than with boys. I have seen little girls, a lot of them, all 
" pick on " one of their number, refuse to play with her, send her 
home, or refuse her admittance into their secrets or their club. Such a 
child will go away an outcast, crying and almost entirely without sym- 
pathy, while her quondam friends will cluster around their new leader. 

26. Will boys favor a stronger and more skillful fighter 
in a combat just because he is stronger and more effective ? 
Will they ridicule and despise a weaker one ? 

27. In a debating contest, will the sympathy of the on- 
lookers be with the stronger or the weaker ones ? How is it 
in a tennis contest, say ? 

28. In a prize fight, are the sympathies of the crowd 
with the weak or the strong combatant ? On which side are 
the newspapers usually ? 

29. In a contest between a teacher and a pupil, suppos- 
ing the latter to be the weaker one, and deserving of dis- 
cipline, with whom will a school sympathize? 

30. When a teacher finds it necessary to administer 
punishment in correction of the faults of some of his pupils, 
how can he best retain the confidence of the innocent pupils, 
and cause them to side with him as against the offenders, 
and thus make his discipline aU the more effective ? Under 
what conditions will a teacher arouse the hostile feeling of 
his school when he chastises a malefactor? 

31. Looking at the matter from the standpoint of de- 
veloping the sentiment of justice in pupils, how far should 
they be graded in their work on the basis of actual results, 
and how far on the basis of earnestness and application in 
the performance of their tasks? 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 461 

32. Suggest some question, problem, or exercise in each 
of the following subjects, by means of which a teacher could 
give positive instruction in property rights : numbers ; 
reading ; writing ; history ; geography ; manual training. 

33. In certain colleges, there are laid down rigid detailed 
rules designed to regulate the conduct of students in their 
relations toward one another and toward the faculty. In 
other colleges, no rules are insisted upon ; but the general 
sentiment, " Be a gentleman, play fair in all you do," is 
made prominent on all occasions. Which of these methods 
is best adapted to develop the spirit of ju-stice among stu- 
dents ? Does it make any difference whether the students 
are in the elementary school, the high school, or the 
college ? 

34. Why is it that students who have a sense of fair 
play in respect to many of their relations with people often 
think it entirely legitimate to take advantage of an in- 
structor whenever they get the chance ? Mention some 
forms of unfair play indorsed in typical colleges. 

35. Discuss the relative value of games and plays out of 
doors, as contrasted with classroom work in formal studies, 
in developing effectively the sentiment of justice. 

36. Make out a list of games and plays that are espe- 
cially useful in developing the sentiment of justice. 

37. Make out a list of five successful and five unsuccess- 
ful cases of school discipline which you have observed. Be 
careful to diagnose every case so that the vital factors in 
each may be appreciated. Also, keep in mind that disci- 
pline is successful only when it seems to onlookers as fair 
and just, so that it secures their approval. 

38. Describe in detail a successful case of discipline of 
a ringleader of a group, who has taken a stand against the 
authority of the home or the school, and who has the back- 
ing of all his followers. 

39. Give concrete instances to illustrate the following, if 
it presents a typical case : — 



462 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

Is it not often true that a bully will not be resisted in any way by 
the group because of the fear of the members that they will be 
" drubbed " if they " squeal " ? I have found this to be true with school 
children. In a number of cases the teacher had to discover through 
observation for himself that there was a bully on the school grounds. 
There was not a whimper from the pupils who were being bullied. 

40. Discuss tlie principle illustrated in the following : — 

I have noticed that when a teacher punishes little children in school, 
the pupils of the upper grades will invariably condemn him for his 
" cruelty," until their point of view is changed by leading them to see 
the justice of and the necessity for the punishment. 

Have you observed this to be a fact ? 

41. Can the testimony of children in regard to the conduct 
of others with whom they are in conflict ever be relied 
upon? 

42. Is the following experience of a truancy officer typ- 
ical of situations presented in the home and the school ? If 
so, describe concrete cases : — 

In truancy cases, I have often found the only excuse offered to be, 
" the other boys did " so and so. An effort is usually made to shift the 
blame ; and yet the offenders are usually ready to admit that they 
have done wrong. However, when committing the offense they feel 
perfectly justified in doing so, because others have offended. 

43. Does a child in school who receives low grades usu- 
ally think the teacher has a grudge against him? Why? 
Does the principle hold for students in the high school ? in 
the college? If the teacher is just, how can the pupil be 
made to appreciate it? To what extent do teachers allow 
personal likes or dislikes to influence their marking of 
pupils ? 

44. What is the excuse usually given by a child who has 
been unjust to another? What is the excuse given by a 
youth? by an adult? What principles of social develop- 
ment are illustrated by your answers ? 

45. Is it of advantage in games among children to have 
adult umpires, who will insist upon a rigid observance of 
rules? 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 463 

46. Are American children given " their own way " too 
largely in their relations with their elders ? What factors 
must be taken into account in answering this question? 
Do people generally consider all these factors in giving 
their opinions ? 

47. Have you observed that a keen sense of justice in 
parents is reflected in their children ? Consider whether 
the children of lawyers and judges are distinguished for 
their tendency to play fair with their fellows. Are the chil- 
dren of ministers fairer than other children in their rela- 
tions with their associates ? How is it with the children of 
professors in college? 

48. In respect to this matter of fair play, have you no- 
ticed any characteristic traits in the children of merchants ? 
of professional gamblers ? Take a number of adults you 
know intimately (yourself included), rank them according 
to their tendency to give a " square deal " to every one, and 
then see whether there is any significant trend in regard to 
their parentage. 

V. RESPECT 

1. Mention, by pseudonym, the five most respected peo- 
ple in the community with which you are best acquainted, 
and indicate the traits, deeds, or circumstances which have 
won them the respect of their associates. 

2. Mention, by pseudonym, persons whom you know who 
have once had the respect of the people in their communi- 
ties, but who have now forfeited it. Why have their asso- 
ciates " lost confidence " in them ? 

3. How do the people you know intimately manifest 
their respect for any one ? How do they show their lack 
of respect for a person ? Is there a characteristic way of 
showing respect, or the lack of it, for men as contrasted 
with women ? 

4. Can the attitude of respect be assumed toward a young 
child ? Why ? Toward an adolescent ? Why ? 



464 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

5. Are certain classes of persons, as teachers and minis- 
ters, respected in most communities as a matter of course ? 
Why ? Are they shown disrespect in certain communities ? 
Why ? Is a change taking place in regard to this matter 
in society at large ? Mention specific instances to illustrate 
your view. 

6. What classes of persons, if any, are as a matter of 
course shown disrespect by society at large? Why? Are 
there some classes toward whom society at large is neutral ? 
If so, explain. 

7. What type of a person wiU be most highly respected 
in a college community ? in a seaside resort ? in a frontier 
town ? in a small New England village ? in a farming com- 
munity ? in a metropolis ? in a capital city ? in a slum dis- 
trict ? 

8. Do the children of native-born German parents show 
greater respect as a rule for their teachers in our public 
schools than do the children of native-born American par- 
ents ? How is it with the children of native-bom Irish, 
Swedish, English, and Italian parents ? 

9. How can one distinguish between genuine respect in 
a child's relations with people and mere conventional po- 
liteness which is only " skin deep " ? 

10. Describe a case of " natural " respect on the part of 
a child for a parent or a teacher or a minister. Be careful 
to distinguish between respect, and fear or admiration or 
conventionality. If you have observed a case of this sort, 
give an account of the conditions or experiences which de- 
veloped the attitude of respect in the child. 

11. Describe the attitudes of any person you know who 
demands of the self observance of a higher ethical code 
than is demanded of the alter. 

12. In reference to what sort of situations have you ob- 
served that shame is first manifested by children ? Speak 
also of humiliation, remorse, chagrin, and the like. Do the 
situations in which these attitudes are assumed change with 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 465 

development ? Work out the developmental history of sev- 
eral of these attitudes. 

13. What sort of accusations will a typical boy of ten 
resent, and how will he resent them ? Does it make a dif- 
ference whether the boy lives in the city or in the country ? 
in the slum or on the boulevards ? Discuss the principle as 
it applies to girls of ten ; to boys and girls of fifteen ; of 
twenty. 

14. With respect to what qualities does a boy of fifteen 
wish to have a good reputation ? A young man of twenty- 
one ? A man of forty ? A girl of eighteen ? A woman of 
twenty-five ? Does it make a difference whether the indi- 
vidual lives in the city or in the country ? Whether he is 
engaged in public or only in private enterprises ? Whether 
he has a distinguished or only a commonplace ancestry ? In 
your discussion take account of all the varieties of good 
reputations which the people you know best desire, and 
endeavor to account for the choice in each case. 

15. What sort of an experience will cause the boy of 
twelve, say, whom you know best to lose his self-respect ? 
The boy of eighteen ? The girl of twelve ? The girl of six- 
teen ? How is the loss of self-respect in each case mani- 
fested? Describe the effect of such a condition upon the 
individual's joyousness, his forcef ulness, and even his health, 
if you can. 

16. Bring before your attention a boy whom you were 
able to follow closely in his development through the ado- 
lescent period. If you have not been fortunate enough to 
have had this experience, talk with an intelligent parent who 
can speak accurately of the principal changes which occurred 
in his boy's development. Then write out an account of the 
effect iipon the boy's thought of himself when he became 
genuinely interested in some girl. In the same way indicate 
the influence upon a girl of adolescent interest in some boy. 

17. Is there a growing tendency in America to celebrate 
in a public way individuals who serve their fellows effect- 



466 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

ively as teachers, or investigators, or ministers of tlie gospel, 
or physicians, or lawmakers ? If you think so, give concrete 
instances in proof of your view. 

18. Discuss the following question from a school princi- 
pal: — 

Has the custom of showing great respect for the clergy developed 
bad national traits in some countries ? I am sure I have observed this 
in dealing with the children of foreign peoples. 

- 19. Give your opinion in response to these questions : — 

A person has great regard for the opinions of others of his class, and 
he tries to live up to the standards of his class. Then a high regard for 
the opinions of those of a class above one tends to lift one out of the 
class he is in at the time, does it not ? And conversely, the loss of 
respect for the standards of one's class, with a growing regard for the 
standards of those below one, tends to put the individual in this lower 
class, does it not ? 

20. Give concrete cases of the way in which a public- 
school pupil may be taught respect for what society has 
considered necessary for its welfare. 

21. Why do ancient institutions often secure obedience 
and respect from many persons, while at heart they may be 
in a rebellious attitude toward them ? Discuss the question 
by describing concrete instances illustrating the principle. 

22. Do clean linen, polished shoes, etc., develop respect 
for one's self ? or does the development of respect for self 
lead to attention to personal appearance, in the effort to 
observe community standards? 

23. Granted that genuine self-respect does not develop 
until adolescence ; what is the bearing of this fact upon the 
methods of controlling children in the fifth grade, say? 
What motives for good conduct can be appealed to in the 
case of a boy or girl who lacks self-respect ? 

24. Have you observed that children often have deep 
affection for a person, but no marked respect for him? 
Have you observed the reverse of this ? Show why the atti- 
tudes of affection and respect are not necessarily assumed 
toward one and the same individual. 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 467 

25. Take the case of a man who is not a church at- 
tendant, but who is highly respected by the people among 
whom he lives on account of his honesty in business or 
politics, his unusual ability, his patriotism, his charitable 
tendencies, or the like ; would he receive still greater pub- 
lic esteem if he should become a regular attendant upon 
religious services? Would it make a difference in what 
community he lived? Why? 

26. What classes of persons, if any, once well thought of 
in this country are now rapidly losing the respect which has 
been accorded them? Be specific in your discussion, and 
give reasons. 

27. Do you think it would be of service to the cause of 
education in this country if medals were given to unusually 
successful teachers ? Why are honorary degrees given to 
college presidents, distinguished scholars, and others ? 

28. To what extent must a man merit respect in order to 
be popular with a college community? with the loafers in 
a saloon ? with a group of clergymen ? with a high-school 
fraternity ? 

29. If it is true that a boy of seven does not care greatly 
for a reputation for gentleness, kindness, goodness, and the 
like, what can be said of prevailing methods of ethical 
training in the Sunday school, and perhaps even in the 
secular school ? Be specific in your discussion. 

30. What is the real attitude of the individual described 
in the following? 

I know a child only four years old who shows humiliation, if I am 
not mistaken. She will be " showing off," perhaps to an unpleasant 
extent, and will seem perfectly unconscious of the fact that every one 
about her is disapproving of her. Finally, it seems to dawn upon her, 
and she will begin to act uncomfortable and angry, and will try to 
keep from crying. But in the end she will run from the room, crying 
loudly, and pretending all the while that she is angry at a particular 
person for something he had no idea of doing. 

31. Comment on this testimony : — 

I know a child who, when reprimanded by a certain person, will, on 



468 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

seeing that person again, sometimes run away from her, or walk past 
her, trying not to look at her, yet really looking at her out of the 
corner of her eye. Does n't this indicate a remembrance of shame, or 
is it simply fear, or dislike of the person ? 

32. If a group of children could be brought up to ado- 
lescence free from any traditional conventions, would they 
then develop a system of conventions of their own ? Discuss 
the principle involved. 

33. Have you observed that those adults who as children 
were most obeisant and respectful toward their elders are 
now distinguished among their fellows for their respect for 
existing institutions, and persons in places of authority, 
civic or religious ? Have you observed that the opposite is 
true ? Produce some reliable evidence relating to this mat- 
ter. 

34. Discuss the propriety and the effectiveness of asking 
children between the ages of three and ten if they are not 
ashamed of their soiled hands, torn clothing, and the like. 
Would your answer be different if in the place of " soiled 
hands," etc., there should be substituted lying, foul speech, 
fighting, and so on ? Why ? 

35. For how many of your teachers in the elementary 
and the high school did you have genuine respect ? What 
qualities inspired this respect in each case? What was 
lacking in the teachers whom you did not respect ? 

36. Do pupils in school to-day respect their teachers as 
fully as they did in an older day ? Present the evidence 
upon which your opinion is based. If there is less or more 
respect now than formerly, account for the change. 

37. Are learned men respected in America to-day as 
fervently as they were formerly? Why? What sort of 
wisdom is most highly esteemed among us ? Would you 
venture to express your opinion on how Solomon would be 
regarded to-day if he lived in Chicago? in Boston? in 
Seattle ? in Butte ? in Madison ? in Paris ? in Berlin ? in 
Rome? in London? in Algiers? in Cairo? How would 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 469 

Plato be regarded ? Aristotle ? Bacon ? Pasteur ? Thomas 
Aquinas ? Galileo ? Mahomet ? Raphael ? Beethoven ? Shake- 
speare? Marshall Field? Jefferson? Roosevelt? Carnegie? 

38. Just what is the content and significance of the oft- 
heard phrases : " My children like their teacher, and will 
do anything for him" ; and "All the pupils hate the teacher, 
and he can't get them to do anything." 

39. Make out a list of ten historical personages who 
have most deeply awakened your enthusiastic admiration, 
and indicate the qualities in each that have appealed to you. 
In the same manner make out a list of the characters in 
fiction who have left the most lasting impression on you. 

40. In American history, what men and women as a 
rule win the good-will and devotion of pupils in the ele- 
mentary school? Why? in the high school? Why? Are 
there men and women described in all the histories who do 
not appeal to boys and girls of any age ? If so, explain. 

41. According to your observations, do American parents 
as a rule show their children as much respect as the chil- 
dren show them? Is there a sentiment in the community 
you know best to the effect that children should be re- 
spected ? If not, why not ? 

42. Is it well to teach the young to respect and obey 
those in authority without questioning whether they merit 
it? Why do people insist upon obedience to established 
authority, right or wrong? 

43. Can a child be taught to show respect for a partic- 
ular office in church or state without feeling respect for 
the individual who occupies the office ? Is such an attitude 
common among us ? Is it of service ? How ? 

44. Comment as you think appropriate on the follow- 
ing:— 

I always dreaded to visit my sister's home when her boy, aged six 
years, was around. His appearance when he would come in from play 
irritated her. When he went to school all she thought of was that he 
should have clean clothes, a clean face, and clean hands. Many is the 
time I have heard her say, " He '11 be clean if he is n't anything else." 



470 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

Now he is ten years old ; and truly the first thing he will say when he 
meets a new acquaintance is something concerning cleanliness or ap- 
pearance. When speaking of boys in his grade at school he refers to 
their dirty face or torn shirt, as though these were the greatest evils 
imaginable. 

45. Respond to this question, asked by a university stu- 
dent : — 

I occasionally see dishonest practices when I am taking an exami- 
nation. I always feel extremely indignant, and never afterwards have 
I the same respect for tlie ones whom I know to have been guilty. Is 
this not opposed to the principle that one holds himself on a higher 
standard than he does his fellows ? 

46. Respond to the following question : — 

When I was eight years old my mother used to have me do a certain 
amount of knitting every day. One day I was obstinate, and would not 
do my task. About seven o'clock of that day my mother was taken 
violently ill, and for hours was in a critical condition. I was so over- 
come with what I call remorse that, in spite of all the excitement at- 
tendant upon such an occasion, I took my work and knitted the required 
number of rounds late at night. If my feeling was not remorse, what 
should it be called ? 

VI. DOCILITY 

1. Observe a group of boys in any community, and note 
what traits the leader possesses which give him his pres- 
tige. Note whether he is a teacher of the rest of the group, 
and if so what activities he attempts to have his followers 
learn. Then discuss your observations in the light of the 
principles of docility. Make similar observations with 
respect to groups of girls, and note any difference between 
them and boys in the things they learn readily from a 
leader. 

2. Toward what sort of situations is the typical city boy 
of seven most docile? of fifteen? of twenty-one? Does it 
make a difference whether he lives in the slums or on the 
boulevards ? Why ? Answer these questions with respect to 
the typical city girl. 

3. Toward what sort of situations is a typical country boy 
of seven most docile? of sixteen ? of twenty-one? Does it 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 471 

make any difference whether he is a " hired hand " or the 
son of a well-to-do farmer ? 

4. Work out with all the care possible this question : 
What are the essential differences in docility between chil- 
dren of (a) American parents ; (6) Irish parents ; (c) 
German parents ; (^) English parents ; (e) Italian parents ; 
(y) Scandinavian parents? 

5. Prepare a biographical sketch, mentioning marked 
epochs in your development when you (a) resisted the learn- 
ing of conventions imposed on you by teachers and parents ; 
and (6) persisted in learning things which were distasteful 
to those in authority over you. 

6. Try to find out whether the distinguished men and 
women you know had the reputation of being docile as 
children. Or were they rebellious, as a rule, toward the 
conventions in force about them ? 

7. In many schoolrooms, and in many homes also, one 
may frequently hear complaints like the following : " Why 
don't you sit still, as I told you to do ? " " Why do you 
communicate when I told you to attend to your own 
affairs ? " " Why don't you study your lessons, as I told 
you to do ? " and so on ad libitum. Take up each of these 
complaints, and others like them, and show why the typical 
child is not docile in respect to the matter urged upon him. 

8. In what proportion of the homes you know intimately 
do the children readily accept the view of the parent in 
respect to (a) " manners " in the home and outside ; (5) 
the choice of companions ; (c) indulgence in sweetmeats, 
etc. ; (d^ application to studies ; (e) refraining from cer- 
tain plays and games, ?s swimming, skating, and the like ? 
Describe in detail the life in a home where the children are 
docile in the ways indicated. 

9. Have you known of boys from fourteen to twenty who 
have " run away from home " ? If so, give in detail the causes 
which led to the estrangement of the boy and his parents. 

10. Are fathers and their adolescent sons usually on 



472 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

good terms with one another ? Are mothers and their ado- 
lescent daughters usually confidential friends ? Work out m 
detail the social principles involved in these questions. 

11. Do parents in rural districts get on more happily or 
less happily with their adolescent sons and daughters than 
parents in the city? Why? 

12. Describe the appearance, actions, speech, and so on 
of a child conforming to some convention which he resents, 
but which is forced on him. Do girls accept the inevitable 
in this respect with less difficulty than boys ? 

13. Make out a list of familiar conventions which you 
have heard boys of ten ridicule ? Do girls ridicule the same 
things ? What do boys of eighteen ridicule ? Girls of eight- 
een ? What is the method of ridiculing a convention at the 
age of ten ? of fifteen ? of twenty ? 

14. Do high-school students conform more easily than 
college students to the rules laid down by their teachers ? 
Do students in both sorts of institutions often feel that the 
faculty is unreasonable in its demands? Why do students 
so often think they should be granted more liberties than 
are usually allowed them ? 

15. At what age do students most readily look upon 
their instructors as models to be emulated in all ways ? Is 
there a difference between boys and girls in this respect? 
Is it the same in the city as in the country ? 

16. Is there anything taught in the kindergarten toward 
which the typical child of five is naturally in a docile, assim- 
ilative attitude ? Would he of his own accord ask the kin- 
dergartner to teach him any of the things in her regular 
programmes ? What is the situation in the typical primary 
school? in the high school? in the college? 

17. Do the teachers you know, whether in the element- 
ary school, the high school, or the college, suggest in their 
speech and manner that they are leading groups of devoted 
followers? or that they are urging forward disinterested 
loiterers ? Comment on the situation as you see it. 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 473 

18. Is the attitude of the high-school student toward his 
work more cordial or less cordial than that of the element- 
ary-school pupil toward his tasks ? How is it in the college ? 
Are graduate students in a more assimilative frame of mind 
than undergraduates ? Why ? 

19. To what extent in your life at the present time do 
you imitate the people about you? Do you consciously 
imitate any one ? Why ? 

20. Looking over your developmental career, what seems 
to you to have been the period when you learned most 
readily by imitation ? What did you learn most freely in 
this way ? 

21. Could you tell what proportion of your present views 
and attitudes are the result of direct imitation? How did 
you acquire views and attitudes not learned imitatively? 

22. Have you been a member of a dramatic club? If so, 
say whether you gained much of positive value therefrom, 
and why. 

23. Make out a list of the more important dramatizations 
in which you engaged at one period or another in your 
developmental career. Describe in some detail what influ- 
ence these experiences exerted upon your intellectual and 
emotional development. 

24. What types in any community do children of differ- 
ent ages frequently impersonate, — teachers, ministers, 
policemen, railway engineers, robbers, and the like ? Does 
it make a difference whether the children live in the city or 
in the country? Why? 

25. Is the following instance at all typical? What prin- 
ciple is involved ? 

A boy aged eight was told several times by his teacher that it was 
the proper thing for him to lift his hat when he met her on the street. 
She had also given little morning talks on street manners. One day 
as she was walking down the street he saw her coming, and rather 
than not do as she wished, he hurriedly took off his hat and sat on it. 
Then when she came, he had no hat on, and so did not need to perform 
the hated act. 



474 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

26. The following questions are asked by a school su- 
perintendent. Give your view in response to them : — 

(a) Is it not a good plan simply to start children on any and all new 
activities, and then let them learn by hard knocks the perfected exe- 
cution thereof, when they can appreciate its value ? (6) Are not our 
educational methods at fault if the docile attitude in which the child 
enters the kindergarten is abandoned as he goes on ? 

27. What attitude does the typical child take toward the 
following conventions : (a) " Dressing up " on Sunday ; 
(6) refraining from games on the Sabbath ; (c) Dressing 
in mourning for the loss of a relative ? 

28. " Many of the conventions of modern society stunt 
the real growth of children." Do you agree with this state- 
ment? Discuss the matter in detail. 

29. Name a number of conventions of high-school and 
college life which tend to preserve docility in pupils, and 
say why they have this effect. 

30. Keply to this question, giving reasons for your an- 
swer : — 

Does not the wise parent or teacher always make certain that the 
youth sees the ultimate end or goal toward which his conduct is lead- 
ing? 

31. Present your view of the problem indicated in the 
following question : — 

Is convention a good thing when it is mere make believe ? Is it not 
better for children to be spontaneous and natural in childhood, for 
then will they not be more apt to be the same in adult life ? 

32. Are mothers liable to overdo the matter of urging 
conventions on their boys ? Ask a frank parent the follow- 
ing questions, and report his response. Then give the result 
of your observations, and present your theories on the gen- 
eral question at issue : — 

Do you think if a young boy uses his knife at the table while other 
members of the family use their forks, he will continue all his days 
to use his knife unless he is instructed to the contrary ? Will he not 
change in time without the customary heroic efforts of the mother to 
reform him ? 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 475 

33. Ask these questions of a frank teacher, and report 
his response. Then give the results of your own observa- 
tions, and present your theories on the general question at 
issue : — 

Is it not many times the teacher's fault that children are not more 
docile toward the work of the school ? True, children often like to 
play truant; but isn't it possible to keep them interested by intro- 
ducing manual training and athletics ? 

34. Is the situation presented in the following testimony 
met with frequently in high-school or college classrooms ? 

Is the boy in college who attends simply to please his parents, neces- 
sarily hostile to all that goes on in the classroom ? I know several 
cases of boys who try often to appear indifferent, because they think 
that in so doing they will not be thought to be " sissies " or " grinds," 
but good fellows. Yet, given a subject which is not above their heads, 
they will certainly not be hostile. 

35. Is the premise on which the following question is 
based a sound one? If so, explain the phenomenon de- 
scribed : — 

If children are reluctant to adopt the conventions of society, why 
do we see, as we do, the little boy who has just learned the art of 
doffing his cap eager to do it upon every possible occasion ? 

36. Can one teach a child that he should be agreeable to 
one whom he detests, and at the same time make him feel 
that he is not playing a " sneaky game " ? 

37. What effect would it have on the child's social de- 
velopment if he were allowed to observe only the conven- 
tions which suited his fancy at any time ? Have you known 
persons who have had this experience ? If so, describe their 
social attitudes in maturity. 

38. Does the typical child derive more pleasure from 
giving information than from receiving it? Is the same 
true with boys as with girls ? What is the evidence bear- 
ing on this point ? Do children differ in this regard ? Be 
specific in your response. 

39. Can a child of eight, say, be made to understand 
why he should be held for clear, accurate work in all he 



476 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

does, and not allowed to be inaccurate and superficial ? 
How is it with a child of twelve ? of eighteen ? 

40. Discuss the following : — 

Is it the result of lack of training in social conventions that some 
persons find it very difficult to appear friendly when they do not feel 
that way ? 

41. Are college students more ready than kindergarten 
children to master completely the technic of any new art 
before they begin to practice it ? 

42. Under what conditions will the typical child willingly 
apply himself to the mastery of the technic of instrumental 
music ? of written language ? Should he be allowed to exe- 
cute in either of these ways before he has gained some 
facility in the use of the correct technic ? Apply the prin- 
ciples to other arts the child must learn. 

VII. RESENTMENT 

1. According to your observations, which children from 
two to five years of age find it hardest to adjust themselves 
to the order of things about them, — those in the homes of 
the rich or those in the homes of the poor ? Why ? 

2. Observe young children in a home where both the 
father and the mother are hard-working in the effort to 
earn daily bread. Are these children in conflict with their 
parents and others much of the time ? Why ? 

3. Is it a disadvantage in the training of a child that his 
parents must work for their living, provided they are tem- 
perate, and not overpowered by their labor ? Discuss the 
matter in detail. 

4. Do you ever in your present reactions upon the world 
feel resentment toward things f Or when matters do not 
go right, is there always some person who is at fault, as it 
seems to you ? 

5. Describe cases of intense anger you have observed 
in (a) a child one year old ; (6) a boy five years of age ; 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 477 

(c) a girl of the same age ; (<?) a boy of eighteen and a 
girl of the same age ; (e) a mature man and woman. 

6. Do you ever, at your present stage of development, be- 
come angry at a person who has not intentionally done you 
harm, or who has not willfully neglected to do his duty by you ? 

7. Has your view of what ought to be resented in the 
people with whom you have relations changed as you have 
developed. Be specific and detailed in your answer. 

8. Have you observed that people who never get angry 
at others are imposed upon by their fellows ? Are irascible 
persons aggressed upon less than docile persons ? How is it 
with children of different ages ? 

9. ' In the groups of which you are a member, are there 
certain persons who " cannot bear to be in one another's 
presence"? Why? Does it weaken or strengthen their 
antipathy to be thrown together frequently ? Is it the same 
way in childhood and youth ? 

10. Describe a case of revenge in childhood which you 
have observed. What were the ages of the children con- 
cerned ? How long an interval was there between the injury 
done and the revengeful deed ? 

11. Describe any case of long enduring anger against 
a playfellow which you have observed in childhood. What 
occasioned the anger ? How did the injured child manifest 
his feeling ? Describe such a case in youth ; in maturity. 
How were these cases distinguished one from another ? 

12. Can you tell when a person is angry as contrasted 
with indignant f How ? 

13. Describe the case of indignation which you have 
observed earliest in childhood or youth. What occasioned 
this attitude ? How was it expressed ? 

14. In your own resentful attitudes at your present stage 
of development, which state of mind is predominant, anger 
or indignation ? What situations now most easily and fre- 
quently arouse resentful attitudes in you ? Do you differ in 
this respect from your associates whom you know best ? 



478 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

15. Describe concrete cases of jealousy you have observed 
in childhood, and say what occasioned them. Describe such 
cases in youth; in maturity. What are the essential differ- 
ences in these cases ? 

16. Mention in detail an instance you have observed 
wherein jealousy proved to be of service to the one who 
expressed it. Why? Mention an instance wherein it proved 
to be a disadvantage. Why ? On the whole, is the emotion 
of service in human life ? 

IT. Is jealousy predominantly a masculine or a feminine 
trait in childhood ? in youth ? in maturity ? 

18. In the community you know best, what are the prin- 
cipal causes of jealousy among the people ? What classes 
of persons in the said community are most jealous of one 
another? Why? 

19. Does jealousy prevail more generally in the city than 
in the country ? Why ? Does it play a larger part in a 
graded city school than in an ungraded rural school ? 
Why? 

20. Is jealousy more active among the brighter pupils of 
a school than among the duller ones? Among those who 
are physically strong than among those who are physically 
weak? 

21. Do the poor people you know assume a hostile atti- 
tude toward those who have more of this world's goods than 
themselves ? Do those who have but little schooling ridi- 
cule those who are educated ? Be specific in your discus- 
sion. 

22. Have you heard rough persons make fun of those 
who have the reputation of being " refined " in speech or 
manner ? If so, what was the motive behind their action ? 

23. Have you known of children who inflicted pain upon 
themselves in order to make a parent or teacher or other 
person suffer? If so, describe the case in detail, and say 
whether it is at all typical ? Have you known grown people 
to do anything of this sort ? 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 479 

24. Observe a child reared apart from other children, 
and under conditions where he is given practically every- 
thing he desires. Does he manifest the jealous attitude ? If 
so, under what circumstances ? Will jealousy fail to appear 
unless the child is in competition with other children ? 

25. Have you known of any instance in which jealousy 
apparently failed to appear until the adolescent period was 
reached? Describe in detail what circumstances seemed 
first to call it forth. 

26. What influence, if any, does school education have 
on the attitude of jealousy? Present some very definite 
concrete evidence illustrating the principle in question 
here. 

27. To what extent is an adult's " temperament " due to 
repression or ready expression of angry states during his 
developing years ? 

28. Do parents and teachers as a rule bestow favors on 
a child as liberally when he is " good" as when he assumes 
an angry or belligerent or bullying attitude? Mention 
definite concrete details in support of your view. What 
inferences of social significance can be drawn from your 
answer to the above question ? 

29. Are bright, active individuals more likely than those 
of a duller nature to be in conflict much of the time with 
the people with whom they have vital relations ? Why ? 

30. Would you prophesy a happy or an unhappy future 
for a boy of seven who is distinguished because of his tend- 
ency to resent any trespassing upon what he fancies are his 
rights ? Contrast with this type the one that rarely offers 
opposition to the aggression of playmates or others. In dis- 
cussing these cases, take into account the relative success in 
life of adults of these different types. 

31. If a child should always express his anger "on the 
spot," would he develop attitudes of hatred and revenge ? 
Why? 

32. " The expression of anger in childhood is essential 



480 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

to the best physical development of the individual." Dis- 
cuss this proposition, consulting with a physician or an 
intelligent parent, if you are not yourself an authority in 
respect to this matter. 

33. The following testimony is given by an observant 
mother. Is the case described a typical one ? Discuss it in 
all its bearings : — 

My daughter at the age of four years had a habit when angry of 
shutting herself up in a vacant room, thowing herself on the floor, and 
kicking and screaming as a vent to her overcharged feelings. What in 
her aroused the desire to be alone on these occasions ? 

34. Comment on the following observation of a stu- 
dent : — 

Do the following remarks by students illustrate the attitude of jeal- 
ousy ? " That fellow is a shark, but he is awfully queer " ; " She is 
pretty, but she has no brains." I have heard many such remarks dur- 
ing my stay in . One fellow said recently he was thankful he was 

just a common "bonehead." Are these persons not magnifying imper- 
fections in their associates, in order to give vent to the feeling of 
jealousy ? 

35. Get all the accurate information you can regarding 
the attitudes which twins assume toward each other. Do 
they resent the aggressions of one another ? Do they, if the 
occasion arises, manifest jealousy of one another? If you 
find twins an exception to the rule in regard to these mat- 
ters, what explanation can you offer therefor? 

36. What ordinarily is the true attitude of a child of 
five when he says to a playmate, " I hate you." How is it 
with a boy of ten ? with a girl of this age ? with a youth of 
either sex at eighteen ? 

37. Does jealousy exist among distinguished teachers? 
lawyers ? ministers ? between great universities ? small col- 
leges appealing to the same clientele ? state normal schools 
in any one state ? churches in any small city ? Why, in 
each case? 

38. It is generally acknowledged that President Lincoln 
bore no resentment toward his enemies, personal or political. 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 481 

but bestowed favors on them as liberally as on his friends. 
On the other hand, some reformers apparently show in- 
tense resentment toward those who oppose their policies, or 
who do not realize their ideals of civic virtue. Try (1) to 
account for the differences between these men ; (2) to de- 
termine which attitude proved to be most effective in " get- 
ting things done " readily and effectively. 

VIII. AGGRESSION 

1. Are girls of three normally as combative as boys of 
this age ? In groups of young boys and girls, who are the 
aggressors, the former or the latter ? How is it at the age 
of ten ? 

2. Among the boys in a city public school, do those from 
the avenues and the boulevards aggress upon those from the 
alleys ? Or is it the other way around ? 

3. Do the German boys as a class encroach upon the 
others? How is it with the Irish boys? the American boys? 
the Scandinavian boys? 

4. Do the same tendencies prevail among the girls as 
among the boys ? 

5. In the rural school, do the sons of well-to-do farmers 
" lord it over " the sons of day laborers ? Or is it the other 
way around ? How is it among the girls ? 

6. What situations will lead to a fight among the boys 
in a city public school ? in a rui*al school ? Describe group 
fights you have observed, pointing out the causes as fully 
as possible. 

7. Do the boys who secure the highest marks in school 
have the reputation of being the aggressors in the group ? 
Or do the dullards carry off the honors in this respect? 
Ask this question of (a) a principal of a high school ; (6) 
a principal of an elementary school. 

8. In a group of boys of any age, are the physically 
strongest members the most aggressive ? Have you known 
unusually capable boys in a muscular sense to be noted for 



482 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

their peace-loving disposition? Does the question of age, 
nationality, economic status, or locality of residence play a 
prominent part in reference to this matter? 

9. How early have you observed that a group of boys 
will as a group endeavor to prevent conflicts among their 
members, or settle them without physical encounter when 
they arise ? Does this tendency develop earlier among city 
than among country boys? At what age does it manifest 
itself among girls ? 

10. Do the boys on the boulevards fight less or more 
than the boys in the slums? Why? Try to get first-hand 
evidence on this matter. 

11. What is the social significance of the term " a bowery 
tough"? Are boys born "tough," or are they made so? 
Discuss the subject in view of definite, concrete types you 
have known intimately. 

12. Describe in detail a case you have observed of group 
settlement of troubles existing between two or more of its 
members. Say whether the group, or the contestants them- 
selves, took the initiative in this proceeding, and whether 
the latter readily accepted the decision of the group. Tell 
just how the group went about it to determine who was 
in the right in the contest. 

13. Ask the parents of a family of boys from five to 
fifteen years of age whether they have to take precautions 
to avoid " scrapping " between them. Find out precisely 
and in detail what the parents do, and what success they 
have, in their own estimation. 

14. Listen for an hour to the talk of a group of boys of 
any age, who are not engaged in some interesting activity 
demanding their full attention, and note what proportion 
of what they say relates to combat of some kind, either 
between themselves and their rivals, or between others 
whom they know at school or elsewhere. Mention the situ- 
ations they depict, the attitudes they assume, the terms 
they use, and the like. 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 483 

15. In the same way listen to the talk of a group of girls, 
and note in detail how it differs from that of the boys. 

16. Jnst what is the social significance and the social 
effect of '" holding a grudge" against a rival or an associ- 
ate ? Do the children of certain nationalities more than 
others incline to hold grudges? If so, give the evidence in 
suiDport of your answer. Is this tendency more marked in 
the city than in the country ? 

17. Write out a list of the methods which a boy of the 
age of five whom you know well employs to tease (a) his 
parents ; (6) his brothers ; (c) his sisters ; (cZ) his play- 
mates ; (e) his pets. 

18. Write out a similar list for a girl of the age of five. 

19. Indicate the favorite ways for tormenting teachers 
in (a) rural schools ; (6) city graded schools ; (c) city 
high schools ; ((?) small colleges ; (e) universities. 

20. Do children ordinarily take pleasure in teasing a 
cripple? Does it make a difference what the particular 
character of the disability is, or whether the children live 
in the city or the country, in the slums or on the boule- 
vards? Be specific in your discussion. 

21. Study the cartoons in any daily newspaper with 
strong partisan affiliations. Does the artist pursue the same 
method in principle of plaguing his victims as does the boy 
of ten who teases a fellow by magnifying and ridiculing his 
peculiarities ? May any inference be drawn here regarding 
group reaction upon individual variations from the type ? 

22. Describe an adult you know well who is a " great 
teaser." What are his methods of teasing ? Whom does he 
tease ? Why does he do it ? How do people react to his 
teasing? Why? 

23. In a high school, are the most aggressive students 
the most or the least popular with their fellows ? with their 
teachers? Why? 

24. Explain why in a college community students resent 
the attempts of those of their fellows who try to get a 



484 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

" stand in " with an instructor. How do they show their 
resentment ? 

25. What is the real attitude of a college student who at 
roll-call in his classes answers "here " for an absent class- 
mate ? What is the attitude of one who tries " to get even " 
with an instructor who has given him a low mark which he 
deserved ? 

26. Is the following a typical case? Discuss the prin- 
ciple involved : — 

I recently observed a group of small boys preparing to snowball 
some little girls. They seemed to ignore those girls who showed they 
were not afraid, but they took delight in chasing those who ran away. 

27. Discuss the following questions proposed by a school 
principal : — 

(a) Do not boys when they have been whipped in a fight by a 
rival often feel relieved if they in turn can whip some other 
boy, whether he has done them an injury or not ? 

(6) Do boys who have been punished in school for some mis- 
demeanor feel it for any length of time ? 

28. Do college students as a body resent the efforts of 
one of their number to excel in athletics ? in debate ? in the 
regular studies ? in social activities ? How is it with high- 
school students? 

29. Describe an organization for self-government formed 
spontaneously by boys or girls of any age. What led to 
such an organization ? How long did it last ? Was it effect- 
ive ? Say just why in any case. 

30. Do girls form self-government associations of any 
sort more readily than boys ? Or is it the other way around ? 
Give reasons, whatever your answer may be. 

31. Do ten-year-old boys prefer to govern themselves 
rather than to be governed by a parent or a principal or 
a faculty? What is the evidence, p^-o or conf How is it 
with girls of this age ? with boys of eighteen ? with girls of 
the latter age ? 

32. Do ten-year-old children, in the settlement of dis- 
putes among themselves, more readily abide by the deci- 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 485 

sions of a teacher than of a parent ? Why ? Will they 
more readily accept the verdict of the teacher than of an 
older playmate ? Why ? Does the situation change as the 
children develop ? 

33. Is the following a typical case? 

I have a little niece aged three, who takes delight in slapping and 
pinching a quiet, inoffensive neighbor child of about the same age. 
She seems to do this especially when she is tired or sleepy, or when 
she has been" punished herself. 

34. Is the following a typical case ? 

A boy of mine of three years of age always rushes at his little sister 
to scratch ber face if she in any manner acts contrary to his desires ; 
but she does not retaliate, nor does she seem to desire to do so. 
Instead, she simply goes to her mother for comfort. 

35. Discuss the following: — 

Is it not true that well-brought-up children who adopt the language 
of the slums do it because of their ignorance of its meaning, instead of 
because they possess a natural inclination to use such speech ? 

36. Describe instances illustrating the capacity of women 
to cooperate with one another on a large scale in the attain- 
ment of («) economic ends ; (6) social ends ; (c) philan- 
thropic ends ; (c?) educational ends ; (e) hygienic ends. 

37. Show, if you can, that cooperative activity among 
women is developing rapidly in modern society, especially 
in America. 

38. From the standpoint of the development of self- 
government in group activity, discuss the tendency in college 
life for the Freshman class to seek the advice and accept 
the arbitration of the Junior class in their difficulties, and 
similarly with the Sophomore class and the Seniors. 

39. Newsboys and bootblacks are notoriously combative 
and aggressive. Is it that only boys with these tendencies 
engage in these undertakings? or is it that their work 
develops these traits ? Discuss the matter in detail. 

40. Describe cooperative societies you have known 
among newsboys and bootblacks. Can boys of this charac- 
ter conduct self-government clubs ? Give concrete details. 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS, PART II 

Based on Chapters X-XVII inclusive. 
X. FROM A NATIONAL STANDPOINT 

1. Which of the people from the Old World who come 
to live among us are the most ready in adapting themselves 
effectively to the conditions here ? Which of these people 
are the least adaptable ? Why ? How do they manifest their 
lack of adaptability ? 

2. Are the Italian children in the public schools of a city 
like New York or Chicago as plastic as the German or Irish 
or English or Scandinavian children ? 

3. Are the children of foreign-born parents more ready 
or less ready than " Yankee " children in taking advantage 
of new conditions to promote their interests ? Give specific 
examples to illustrate your answer. 

4. Are the people who live in rural regions more plastic 
or less plastic than those born and reared in the city ? What 
is the evidence upon which your answer is based ? 

5. Show which among the great nations of the Old World 
is the more progressive, and the probable reason therefor. 
Give evidence indicating that the United States is or is not 
leading the nations of the world in sound progress. 

6. Show in a concrete way the difference between a plas- 
tic, adaptable people, and one that is simply mobile or 
volatile. 

7. Do you know of any section in our country where 
progress appears to have been arrested ? If so, describe the 
life of the people in such sections, and indicate what has 
led to such arrest. 

8. What in your opinion is the tendency among nations, 
— to be too conservative or too changeable ? Present con- 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 487 

Crete evidence in suj^port of your view. What is the tend- 
ency with respect to individuals ? Does an individual 
exhibit different tendencies at different periods in his life? 

9. How do the people of means whom you know spend 
their leisure time ? Compare the dwellers in the city, in the 
town, and in the country in this regard. Is the pursuit of 
intellectual, aesthetic, and kindred interests increasing or 
declining in the community in which you were reared ? How 
can you tell? 

10. How do the adults in the communities you know 
best spend their leisure time ? Do they have a fondness for 
reading ? If so, what are they most interested in ? Give 
concrete, first-hand evidence in answer to these questions. 
Then say whether the interests of the grown people in these 
communities are upbuilding or otherwise. What influence 
do the schools in these places exert upon the aspirations, 
amusements, and dominant interests of the people ? 

11. Is it of advantage in the development of our nation 
that it is the Mecca of all the ill-adjusted people in the 
countries of the Old World ? Is it of disadvantage to us 
that the people who come to us are, as a rule, poverty- 
stricken ? 

12. Are the following statements applicable to the boys 
in the communities you know best ? If so, what is the rea- 
son they do not possess lively interests in art, literature, 
and music? 

In the towns and villages of our country, boys from the age of 
twelve or thirteen to maturity spend their leisure time largely on the 
street, or at the railway station, or about the livery stable. They have 
little or no interest in the public library or the Sunday school, or an 
art exhibition, and the like. 

13. Are the interests of city boys from the age of twelve 
or thirteen to maturity different from those of boys in small 
villages or in the country ? If so, point out the dift'erencpp, 
and express your opinion as to whether the present trjii [ 
of life among the young in the city is more hopeful or 



488 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

less hopeful than the tendencies in the towns or in the 
country. 

14. Study the lecture courses offered in the communities 
you know best, whether in the city, the village, or the coun- 
try. Find out what lectures have been given during the 
past few years, and what interest has been manifested by 
the people in the various lectures. Have the lectures de- 
signed to present theoretical or useful knowledge in any 
field been popular ? Have the people insisted upon " enter- 
tainments " ? Give some accurate, first-hand information 
relating to this matter, and discuss its significance in re- 
spect to the intellectual tendencies among us. 

15. Farmers' institutes throughout the country are al- 
ways well attended. Also, homemakers' conferences attract 
an interested body of women from the country, at least in 
Wisconsin. But, in our cities, it is practically impossible to 
awaken general interest in lectures on education or hygiene 
or similar matters. Is there any social significance in these 
facts ? 

16. Examine the programme of women's clubs in the 
communities you know best. What interests predominate 
in them ? What is the significance of the facts as you find 
them? 

17. Study carefuUy the tendencies in the communities 
in which you have lived, and say whether — 

(a) Parents show a genuine interest in acquiring accurate know- 
ledge relating to the care and culture of their children in and 
out of school. 

(6) Teachers show a genuine interest in the study of the serious 
problems of education. 

(<;) Farmers avail themselves of every opportunity to learn what 
science is doing for the improvement of agriculture. 

18. Call to mind the men and women with whom you 
grew up, and who are now following a trade or engaged in 
commerce, or in practicing a profession. What proportion 
of them learned their business by " rule of thumb " ? How 
many of them received a scientific training for their work ? 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 489 

Comment on the significance of the results of your investi- 
gation. 

19. Among the adults you know, what proportion of 
them are not fitted for any useful work ? Why ? Are they 
a charge on the community ? Could they have been made 
self -helpful by a sound system of education ? Discuss this 
matter at length. 

20. Is the proportion of dependents among us increas- 
ing ? If so, why ? What can be done by any community to 
prevent this ? 

21. How is the spirit of charity manifested among the 
people you know intimately ? Are food, clothing, and money 
given directly to those who ask for them ? What is the 
prevailing method among us of dealing with beggars ? 

22. Looking at the matter from a social standpoint, 
which is the more likely to result from our charitable meth- 
ods, good or evil? Why? 

23. Could it be demonstrated that the development of 
natural science has been the most important factor in keep- 
ing certain modern nations in a plastic and progTessive at- 
titude ? Suggest principles bearing on this matter. 

24. " The process by which society keeps itself going is 
fundamentally a process of reasoning." If this is true, could 
we say that the most important work of the school is that 
afforded by those branches which develop a reasoning type 
of mind ? What are those branches ? Why do they develop 
a reasoning type of mind ? 

25. Discuss these questions, submitted by a student of 
history : — 

(a) Is it desirable to keep nations from rising and falling ? 

(b) Was a faulty educational system the cause of the decay of 
nations in past times ? 

26. Discuss the following : — 

Why should solid, substantial, unimaginative Germany be recovering 
its youth, while romantic, volatile, impulsive Italy seems to be declin- 
ing ? Is not this a tribute to the educational value of logic, reason, 
judgment ? 



490 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

27. Is the feeling in England toward woman suffrage 
due to the natural conservatism of the English people, or 
to some special feeling which they have against women? 
What is the significance of their attitude for the progress 
of the nation ? 

28. China, after a very long period of comparative inac- 
tivity, has at last awakened to a realization of her condition, 
and she is making a supreme effort to regain the ground 
that she has lost. To what extent does this fact bear upon 
the doctrine that a nation must live through the periods of 
infancy, youth, old age, and death ? 

29. " Clannishness tends to the destruction of a people." 
Is it not clannishness that has helped certain peoples to 
survive, as, for example, the Swiss, the Norwegians, the 
Scots ? 

30. Is not our present-day activity in establishing trade 
schools, introducing commercial courses, domestic science, 
etc., into the public schools, a refutation of the following 
statement : — 

The first schools were for the learned professions and the leisure 
classes. We have extended education, but not changed the character of 
the schools. 

31. New York, Chicago, and other large American cities 
have many hungry school children. It is quite evident that 
they must obtain bread in some way. Which will it do, 
benefit or harm them in their future career if they are cared 
for at public expense ? 

32. What is likely to be the effect in the long run upon 
our people of furnishing school children free text-books, 
cheap luncheons, gratuitous entertainments, and the like ? 
Have you observed effects of any kind from this sort of 
thing ? 

33. What provisions are being made in your own com- 
munity to make all the young, boys and girls, self-helpful 
when they become mature ? What proportion of the men and 
women yo,u know have come to maturity without having 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 491 

skill in any trade, business, or profession ? Is this becoming 
a sei-ious problem in our country? 

34. Discuss this proposition : The study of geography 
will give an individual social breadth and ability which 
could not be acquired in any other way. As taught in the 
schools you know, is geography valuable from the social 
point of view ? Why ? 

35. Discuss the subject of history in the same manner as 
you have discussed geography. 

36. Discuss the subjects («) reading, (5) elocution, (c) 
composition in the same manner as you have discussed 
geography. 

37. If you have an opportunity so to do, study the work 
of a typical trade school of high-school grade. Comment on 
the social value of its curriculum and methods of teaching, 
as compared with those of the ordinary high school. 

38. Suppose a girl will terminate her formal education 
with the high school. Suppose again that during her course 
in the high school she has the option of electing algebra 
or domestic science. From the social point of view, would 
you advise her to choose one rather than the other ? Give 
reasons for your action. 

39. Has it been your observation that art museums and 
art exhibits exert a beneficial influence upon the social life 
of a community ? Go into the matter in some detail, basing 
your opinions upon coucrete evidence if you can secure it. 
Do not stop with mere repetition of conventional beliefs 
on this point. 

40. Are artists distinguished for their superior social 
qualities ? Are musicians ? Are art centres, like Paris, cele- 
brated for their exalted social and ethical tone ? 

41. From your observation, could you say whether or not 
instruction in the catechism in Sunday school develops re- 
ligious feeling and attitudes in children ? Have you known 
of persons who appeared to be made irreligious by this 
instruction ? If so, what can be the explanation of such a 
disastrous result ? 



492 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

42. If children at different points in their educational 
course were to outline the " course of study," what sort of 
work do you think they would emphasize ? What studies 
now required of them would they cast out of the course ? 
Why? ' 

43. What mistakes in teaching would a teacher probably 
avoid if he should constantly ask himself the questions : 
" To what extent do the children I am teaching actually 
apply in their daily lives what I am offering them ? Will 
they ever make effective use of it? " 

44. Do the children from "good homes" tend to "rea- 
son things out" and insist upon "knowing the reasons 
for everything " more than children from " poor homes " ? 
Answer this question as it applies to the children of the city 
in contrast with those of the country. 

45. Is a person helped or hindered by being educated 
above the estate in which he was born, and reared during 
his early years ? Should a child be educated to fit into the 
community of his birth ? Why ? 

46. Comment on the views presented in the following : — 

It is extremely common nowadays to hear college professors sneering 
at the oratory, debating, poetry, essays, and stories of college students. 
These attempts are said to be empty, vain, high sounding. But in 
taking this attitude a college professor proves himself more ignorant 
and more ridiculous than the boys whose efforts he jeers at. The 
teacher acknowledges by such criticism that he does not understand 
the fundamental principle of pedagogy, — namely, that self-expression, 
imagination, production, effort, independent thought, are the best 
methods of training. Now the important thing is not for the college 
Sophomore to deliver an oration which might help save the nation ; the 
important thing is for him to do his best to express himself effectively. 
He is organizing his powers of successful behavior. In short, it seems 
to me utterly unjustifiable for a college teacher to make fun of the 
earnest efforts of college boys, no matter if their efforts have abso- 
lutely no intrinsic merit. 

47. " Appreciation depends upon execution." Is it true 
that one can appreciate the " best " music without being 
able to execute in any way musically ? What bearing has 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 493 

your answer upon the effective teaching of music from the 
social standpoint ? 

48. " It does not signif}'^ much for aesthetic development 
simply to live in the presence of aesthetic things." Does 
having the " best " pictures hanging on the walls in a school- 
room help to give children a taste for art ? Does familiarity 
with pictures breed contempt, or perhaps indifference for 
them? 

49. In what respects, if any, does complete uniformity 
in school work, such as one finds in France and in some of 
our own communities, fail to meet the needs of a democratic 
society? Are we in danger in this country of insisting upon 
too great uniformity ? 

XL EDUCATIVE SOCIAL EXPERIENCE 

1. Have you observed that those whose business it is to 
expound and advocate ethical, moral, or religious doctrines 
are themselves more ethical, moral, or religious than those 
whom they teach ? If you can do so, give concrete illustra- 
tions of the proposition, — that one may believe a principle 
of ethical or social conduct, but not observe it in his own 
behavior. Show why there should be this divorce between 
theory and conduct. 

2. Make a careful study of an " only child," writing out 
in detail his social tendencies so far as you can determine 
them. Then see if you can account for these tendencies in 
the light of his home training. You will need to know 
accurately who are in the home, and what their attitudes 
are toward the child. How does this child differ socially 
from the typical child of his age ? 

3. Compare children of twelve years of age, say, trained 
in a private school, or under tutors, with children of this 
age trained in the public schools, and describe the dif- 
ferences between them socially. Make the comparisons first 
in respect to the group as a whole, and then in respect to 
individuals. You will need to exercise great care to detect 



494 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

the essential factors that are responsible for any differences 
you may note. 

4. Write out a list of the maxims you learned as a child, 
and say in each case what help in a social way, if any, you 
received from them. Did you comprehend their meaning 
when you fu*st learned them ? If not, and yet you feel you 
have been helped by them, show how they have exerted 
upon you any influence for good. 

5. What proverbs did you learn as a child ? Which of 
them related at the time they were learned to social situa- 
tions in which you had little if any experience ? Trace the 
effect of each upon your present social tendencies. 

6. Have you known children who were made " rough " 
and " unmannerly " by attending a public school ? Be spe- 
cific in your answer, and give reasons. 

7. Have you observed any children who have been injured 
in their social and ethical life by having give-and-take rela- 
tions with their fellows? If so, show just why this effect 
should have been produced on them. 

8. In the community which you know best, are children 
now having a wider range of social contact with each other 
than they did when you were a child ? If so, what effect is 
this exerting on their social abilities and tendencies? In 
what ways is their social life being enriched? 

9. Do you know children who have too much associa- 
tion with other children ? If so, say why. 

10. Can people who have until maturity lived largely in 
isolation in the country adapt themselves to an active social 
life when they come into the city ? Give definite concrete 
examples to illustrate your view of this matter. 

11. Are American children as gregarious as the Italians? 
How about the Irish ? The Germans ? The Scandinavians ? 
The English ? 

12. Are youths reared in the country "good mixers" 
when they enter a high school or a college in a town or 
city? Are city-bred youths always " good mixers " ? Why? 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 495 

13. How is the schoolmaster in his attitude toward his 
pupils usually depicted in general literature? The school- 
mistress ? Enumerate the traits of at least five teachers 
described in fiction. 

14. Describe in detail the social opportunities of the 
schools in which you have been trained. Speak first of the 
advantages, and next of the disadvantages, as you now view 
the matter. 

15. Show whether the following questions are important 
from the standpoint of social development : — 

Should stereotyped positions, inflections, rhyme, and pauses ever be 
used in the teaching of pupils to read with expression ? If so, how is 
one to get from these to natural expressions which will be pleasing to 
those who listen ? 

16. Is the following view a sound one ? If so, what are 
its implications for social training : — 

To be so cautious as to be afraid to stir, or to take risks for worthy 
ends, is a conservative attitude governed by a subconscious fear. 

17. To what extent is it safe to allow children to select 
the hind of stories told to them? Why? 

18. What principle is involved in the following incident? 
Does it bear on social education ? If so, show how : — 

I have in mind a little boy who asked how it was or what it was 
that made a watch go. The whole thing was explained to him fully. 
Nevertheless, the next day he was found under a bed pulling the 
watch to pieces to see for himself. 

19. With the variety of subjects in the curriculum, and 
the limited time in which to present them, how may a 
teacher always employ induction in social education, and 
not superimpose his opinions upon his pupils ? 

20. Discuss this question, giving the evidence upon which 
your yiew is based : — 

Is the desire to get, rather than the desire to give, the dominating 
motive in acquiring an education, even on the part of children ? 

21. Many business men have posted in conspicuous places 
in their offices such mottoes as, " Do it now " ; " Don't 



496 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

growl " ; " Time is money " ; etc. Is any significance to be 
attached to this practice, viewing the matter in the light of 
our present discussion ? 

22. What is the effect upon social development of re- 
quiring children to read stories for the sake of the moral 
they contain ? Give the moral of some of the stories you 
heard as a child, and comment thereupon. 

23. Discuss the following statement : — 

The pupil wbo is weaving a mat uuder the direction of a teacher 
cannot fail. . . . The responsibility rests with the teacher. 

Is it not the duty of the teacher to lead the pupil to feel 
responsibility for the results of work assigned him, since the 
majority of individuals will in maturity need to work under 
the direction of others ? 

24. Discuss the following questions asked by a teacher : 

In the development of conscience, honor, altruism, to what extent 
may blame or condemnation be safely employed ? 

(a) Is it not wiser to punish by withholding praise rather than by 
condemnation ? 

(b) Aside from the possibility of condemning wrongly, does not 
condemnation injure the friendly relations which exist between 
teacher and pupil ? 

(c) And yet, what can be done by a teacher who finds a pupil is 

willfully disobedient, or careless in his work ? 

25. Can this statement be defended : — 

After all, the development of individual industry and efficiency 
seems to be the most important element of social education. 

26. Some people contend that every child should be told 
the reason for performing an act instead of simply being 
made to realize that he must obey law. Is it good for the 
child to be reasoned with in respect to most of the actions 
demanded of him ? 

27. Discuss the following question, proposed by one who 

teaches boys in a Sunday school: — 

Boys who read dime novels, exciting Indian stories, train-robberies, 
etc., tend to emulate the heroes in the tales. Why do they not tend 
to lead religious lives when they read religious stories ? 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 497 

28. Comment on the following : — 

Is there not much foolish twaddle about "character building" as the 
purpose of school and college ? The person of character is not one 
who refrains from stealing and lying and profanity • he is the one who 
is able to recognize all subtle powers of wrong in modern conditions. 
Passing intelligent judgment on great moral dangers, he stands reso- 
lutely against them. Now when President Wilson says, " Character 
is a by-product of education," this is what he means, is it not ? Edu- 
cation is to organise all the powers of body and of mind, — that is, to 
develop self-control. This done, has education (secular) not completed 
its task ? Must not inspiration for ethical actions come from outside 
influences ? 

29. Give your views on this problem : — 

Professor Scott, in chapter viii of his Social Education, commends 
an experiment in which boys in the third grade of a public school were 
allowed to pour molten wax down into the home of a harmless ant 
colony. Granted that such an experiment developed judgment, did it 
also develop a tendency toward cruelty ? 

30. Discuss the following : — 

(a) I knew a clergyman who wished to teach his son of fourteen 
how to use a shot-gun. Together they went into a neighbor- 
ing wood, where the man shot down every bird he saw, from 
robin and oriole to the common blackbird. From the view- 
point of training, was this a wise course to pursue ? 

(5) " The purpose of education is to surround each child by the 
best influences and conditions, so as to direct his physical, 
mental, and moral growth, so that he shall, as a present and 
future member of society, live the highest life of which he is 
capable." 

(1) How does the making of maps, charts, etc., in geography 
work toward this result ? 

(2) Give a series of questions about the products of Canada 
which would lead a child of twelve to realize the inter- 
dependence of the people of Canada and the United States. 

(3) Can a teacher in a geography lesson impress the dignity 
and worth of labor ? If so, show how. 

31. In the light of your own experience and observa- 
tion, discuss the following testimonies of teachers : — 

(a) " A stitch in time saves nine." This is the first proverb that 
I can remember my mother quoting to me. It seemed to be a 
part of the day's work. It did not mean much to me until I 
was old enough to mend my clothes. Then, when I, instead of 



498 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

my mother, liad to do the stitching, I felt the meaning of her 
words, and they have had the proper effect. 

(6) When I found fault with others, the following was often 
quoted to me, but without effect : "He who lives in glass 
houses should not throw stones." It has only been during the 
last few years that I have really appreciated the truth of 
these words. 

(c) " Do not throw away dirty water until yon can get clean " was 
a great favorite of my mother's. I recall many, many instances 
when she quoted this, especially if she wanted to impress us 
with the fact that we were extravagant. It was like water 
poured on a duck's back. Very often we laughed at mother. 
Last year, I resigned a position before I had secured another ; 
and although I had many little experiences previous to this, 
they seemed trivial, and reminded me of the oft-quoted pro- 
verb, but its real truth was not brought home to me until 
this last experience. 

32. From the standpoints of the development of social 
breadth and appreciation, discuss the value of the following 
school exercise : — 

On Friday afternoons we took trips to foreign countries. Pro- 
grammes were prepared by members of the geography class for the 
pleasure of the other pupils. The astonishing thing about this was that 
no one ever refused to do his part. 

The schoolroom was always decorated in the colors of the country 
to be visited, members of the class bringing flags, pictures of noted 
places, etc. When we took the trip to England, one boy was very 
glad to bring one of the old text-books used in England, and a pen 
that Queen Victoria wrote with. Another boy, whose father had vis- 
ited the large factories in London, brought all his postal cards, and as 
he told the class about some of the large manufacturing districts, he 
made use of these. 

Others brought interesting articles that their mothers and fathers 
were preserving as relics. The literary part of the programme consisted 
of national songs, selections from England's poets, a trip to West- 
minster Abbey, etc. 

I well remember the Scotch boy whom the class paid little attention 
tOj until he brought newspapers and numerous other things from Scot- 
land. He interested the boys so much by the trinkets that he held a 
warm spot in their hearts ever after. 

Another afternoon, when a programme was given on Japan, the 
little girls who had charge of it planned a Japanese party, to be held 
in the Kindergarten, as a surprise to the others. 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 499 

33. Discuss this view of the moral value of proverbs : — 

Often they serve to strengthen a purpose decided upon. For exam- 
ple, I am in doubt about a certain piece of work ; it might be just as 
well, and surely much easier, to let it slide. I think "Heaven helps 
those who help themselves," and do it. Of course the " saying " did n't 
decide my action, yet it approved ; and it gives one a comfortable feel- 
ing of determination to know that the sages approve. Of course, I 
have not always analyzed them, but I have had experiences like this 
since childhood. 

34. Are the following experiences at all typical ? 

(a) " A wise man changes his mind often, a fool never." Before 
hearing this maxim I always carried the idea (unexpressed) 
that it was a sign of weakness for one to " give in," even after 
he saw that he was wrong. However, after once hearing this 
statement it stuck, and I have often used it since to uphold 
a changed opinion. This maxim at the time it came to me 
was just what I needed. 

(6) " There is so much good about the worst of us, and so much 
bad about the best of us, that it little behooves any of us to 
talk about the rest of us." This motto, printed on a colored 
card and placed above the blackboard in our high-school 
auditorium, inspired me to resolve never to talk about others, 
or at least to say nothing bad about others. I have failed, 
however, many times, and the motto has seldom kept me 
from failing. However, it was the " catchy " way in which 
the idea was expressed which made me heed it at all. 

XII. THE CRITICAL PERIOD 

1. Observe a dynamic year-old child throughout the 
experiences of a typical day in adjusting himself to his 
parents, his brothers and sisters, his pets, his toys, and his 
daily programme of feeding, resting, and so on. Note how 
often he cries, or assumes attitudes of protest against what 
occurs in his environment, and what are the specific causes 
thereof. Then comment on the relation between the child's 
crying and the intensity of the pain or the disappointment 
which occasions it. 

2. Note how the people who are charged with the care of 
the child respond to his crying or his protests. Does the 
father respond differently from the mother ? If there is a 



500 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

grandfather, how does he respond ? What about the grand- 
mother ? the aunts ? the brothers ? the sisters ? 

3. Comment on the influence on the child of the attitudes 
of each of the types mentioned above. Suppose the child 
has relations with all these types : what is the resultant 
effect on him of their various attitudes ? 

4. What is the customary response of the several types 
mentioned in 2 to the bullying attitudes of a dynamic boy 
of five years ? of ten years ? of fifteen years ? Describe 
actual cases which you know well. 

5. In the community you know best, what proportion of 
the children are cared for in their early years mainly by 
maids or governesses? Comment on the situation as you 
find it. What proportion of the children are cared for 
mainly by older brothers or sisters ? 

6. Try to get accurate data relating to the proportion of 
children in your community who live in homes where both fa- 
ther and mother work for wages. Comment on the situation 
in respect to the bearing of these facts on social training. 

7. Without any preconceptions whatever, endeavor to 
observe the attitudes on the playground and in the school- 
room of children who come from the homes of working 
people, as compared with those who come from homes where 
there are servants who do the work and attend to their 
wishes. Which children seem to adapt themselves most 
easily to the rules of the school ? Why ? 

8. Let it be granted that children may be too severely 
repressed in their spontaneous activities, and at the same 
time they may not be repressed enough. Go over the homes 
you know well, and indicate in each case whether you think 
parents are going to one extreme or the other. Describe the 
method of treatment in each instance. Comment on the 
results of your inquiry. 

9. Do parents who live in the country to-day treat their 
children differently, as a rule, from parents who live in the 
city? Work the matter out in detail. 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS J 501 

10. Make a list of the attractions which stimulate chil- 
dren in a typical city to-day, which their parents, as children 
in the country thirty or forty years ago, knew nothing about. 

11. " The prettier the child, the greater is the likelihood 
that he will be spoiled." Is this true ? If so, why so ? If 
not, why not? 

12. Locke would not tolerate the whining or complaining 
of a child. Would you ? Why? 

13. Rousseau declares that the child starts out in this 
life pure, innocent, and. possessed of a full complement of 
social virtues ; but he is corrupted by adults. Do you 
believe this? Argue the matter, whatever may be your 
opinion. 

14. Discuss the Spartan as contrasted with the Athenian 
method in the treatment of children. Do you find these 
methods illustrated, in the training of children about you 
to-day ? 

15. The Germans are strict " disciplinarians" with their 
children. They make them " toe the mark " on all occasions. 
The French treat their children in just the opposite way. 
Which system, if either, do you indorse ? Why ? 

16. Do the teachers you know best train the children 
under their care, or do they simply discipline them so as 
to settle problems for the day or the year ? Do they look 
forward to the needs of their pupils in maturity ? Give 
specific instances to illustrate your answer. 

17. What, in your opinion, is the effect on the criminally 
inclined in this country of our elaborate system of admin- 
istering justice, which enables a criminal to carry his case 
through various courts, thus greatly delaying the infliction 
of any penalty he may receive ? Apply the principle to an 
involved system of discipline m the home or the school. 

18. What is the psychological explanation of women 
sending flowers to a brutal murderer, and petitioning for his 
pardon if he be convicted ? Apply the principle to the 
training of children in the home and the school. 



502 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

19. Suppose a mother, 'living in a city with neighbors 
within arm's length of her on every side, decides to permit 
her babe to cry out his " tantrums," and so to learn that he 
cannot coerce her into doing as he wishes on all occasions. 
What difficulties will she encounter with which a mother 
in the country would not have to deal ? 

20. How does the presence of " outsiders " in a home, or 
very near it, affect the social training of children? Work 
this out in view of actual situations with which you are 
familiar. 

21. Describe the general spirit of the school that exerted 
the greatest influence for good on you. Was it about the 
same as, or was it much different from, your home ? 

22. Describe the teacher who has influenced you for good 
most deeply. Was he as a father or she as a mother to you ? 

23. Give schoolroom illustrations of this principle : 
" Familiarity breeds contempt." 

24. Give schoolroom illustrations of this principle : " We 
can respect those things only that are somewhat removed 
from the merely ordinary or commonplace." 

25. In the discipline of school children, what are the 
advantages of a system which requires the individual 
teacher to send all refractory cases to the principal or su- 
perintendent for treatment? Give instances showing the 
successful operation of this system. 

26. Are there disadvantages in the system mentioned in 
the last problem ? If so, point them out in detail, illustrat- 
ing by concrete examples. 

27. Can you indorse the sentiment expressed in the 
latter part of the following testimony? Do you know of 
college teachers who, being " sympathetic " but not scholarly 
or strong teachers, have made a deep impress upon stu- 
dents ? Is the following case an exception ? 

When I was a senior in college we took a freshman boy into our 
fraternity group, who was entirely dependent upon his own resources. 
When the first semester was half over he came into my room one day 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 503 

crying. He could n't make it go. The steward at the club refused to 
give him credit for even a week's board. I could n't help him ; but I 

took him under my wing to the home of Professor H . There we 

told the boy's story. Professor H put his arm around the boy, 

cheered him up, gave him a note to the steward guaranteeing his 

board, and helped him to find some work. Now Professor H was 

not a learned or scholarly man, nor a great success in the classroom. 
But the lesson of charity and helpfulness and sympathy made that 
day upon two impressionable boys was worth infinitely more than any 
number of intellectual truths. 

28. Locke would never yield to a child in his importun- 
ing for playthings or sweetmeats, or what not. Do you 
sympathize with this view ? Why ? 

29. Observe a parent's relation to his two-year-old son, 
who is very active, and "wants the earth." Does the parent 
ignore the child in many of his requests ? Or does he yield 
if the child importunes long enough and vigorously enough ? 
What proportion of parents resist the demands of their 
young children ? 

30. Can one develop the importuning tendency in a 
child? How? Describe a concrete instance illustrating 
your answer. " 

31. Locke condemned the practice current in his day of 
blaming children in public for their faults. He said one 
might praise in public, but never blame. Do you agree ? 
Why? As you observe what is going on about you, do 
parents and teachers follow the plan you approve ? 

32. Will the child whose coercive tendencies are en- 
couraged be more likely to hold his own in the business 
world — to be a leader without being a bully — than the 
child who is " taught to keep his place " in the early years ? 
Give concrete instances to illustrate your view. 

33. A parent asks the following question : — 

Is the typical schoolroom homelike enough to win the child ? Would 
making schoolrooms more attractive detract from the efficiency of 
school work ? 

Make observations in the schoolrooms of your commu- 



504 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

nity, and then discuss the above question. Make practical 
suggestions if you think any changes are desirable. 

34. A father proposes the following : — 

Mrs. Birney suggests to the mother of a boy who constantly dawdles 
at his work, — " Get all the historical anecdotes you can find which 
deal with the vice of tardiness and the virtue of punctuality, and repeat 
them to him at intervals." If an invitation to work faster at the time of 
the offense does not have the desired effect, would not a strap prove 
more effective in the majority of cases ? 

Discuss this important problem in all its bearings. 

35. Give your views of the following problem suggested 
by a teacher : — 

What do you think of parents who drink tea and coffee, but forbid 
their children doing so? Do the latter really believe an adult if he 
says to them, — " Tea and coffee are n't good for children " ? 

36. Should parents insist upon a child taking music 
lessons if he dislikes to do so ? How about lessons in draw- 
ing ? in physical culture ? in domestic science ? This prob- 
lem has many aspects ; do not dismiss it summarily. 

36. Discuss the following: — 

I know of parents who make it a point to encourage their children 
in choosing playmates who are a little older, a little more advanced in 
their studies, or a little brighter or more independent than they them- 
selves are. Is this a commendable practice ? Will a child develop 
leadership and individuality to a large degree if his associates are 
superior in these respects ? 

38. In the community you know best, do parents as a 
rule sustain the teacher in all cases of discipline ? Or do 
they take the part of a child who has been punished ? If 
the parents do not sustain the teacher, what is the effect 
upon the morale of the school ? What is the effect upon 
individual children ? Give concrete, specific instances. 

39. A recent educational book makes the statement that 
" nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every one thousand 
teachers will be glad to have the parents of their pupils call 
at the school." Do you agree ? Have you known exceptions 
to this statement ? Discuss the whole matter. 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 605 

40. The following editorial, taken from a daily newspa- 
per, discusses several very important details regarding the 
relation of the home to the school in respect to the disci- 
pline of pupils. Do you indorse the sentiment of the editorial 
in all respects ? Whatever position you take, give concrete 
evidence in support of your, view : — 

Parents have a distinct duty before them in upholding the discipline 
of the school and the rules of the teachers at whatever cost. Children 
constantly come home with complaints. The parents condole and sym- 
pathize, little dreaming that they are encouraging their children to 
open rebellion. In this way parents often keep alive resentment, the 
small beginnings of which they should in wisdom have turned aside. 
"Mother thinks it was real mean of teacher," or, " So do I," has been 
the beginning of innumerable school tragedies. If parents suspect a 
teacher of unfairness or neglect, a few quiet words outside of school 
hours will set the matter straight. But the child should not know that 
the visit has been made or the words spoken. Nothing helps a child 
more substantially to surmount the hard places of school life than the 
firm support of its parents. Parents who are unfaltering in their alle- 
giance to school discipline, and who uphold the teachers through the 
crises and climaxes of the school year, have their reward, for they are 
sure to see the best results the system is capable of producing worked 
out in their children's character. Such parents, by this example alone, 
invite in their children the same high-grade quality of obedience and 
confidence they themselves make it a business to express. There are 
always good sides to every school, and, with a little looking, fine qual- 
ities to be found in all the teachers. Parents can do much towards 
influencing their children's point of view by speaking of them. There 
is no discouragement to a young child greater than to hear from his 
parents' lips slighting or jesting remarks about his school. Without 
loyalty and enthusiasm the school will fail in some mysterious way to 
do its best for the child, and the pupil who is lukewarm in his allegiance 
will draw very little upon the real strength of its grander inner life. 

41. In a certain city the superintendent of schools has 
three children in the schools. The teachers who have these 
children under their care are " easy " on them, because of 
their relations to the father. The children are let off from 
requirements exacted of their classmates. They are not 
compelled to remain after hours to make up back work, 
and so on. Are these children to be congratulated, or to be 
pitied? Why? 



506 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

42. Have you known any homes in which the father has 
not sustained the mother in the discipline of the children, 
and vice versa ? Has this always had a bad effect on the 
children? How can one tell? 

43. Have you known schools in which the principal or 
the superintendent has not supported his teachers in their 
infliction of penalties upon pupils ? Describe concrete cases 
of this sort. Was the principal or the superintendent in 
error ? Why ? 

44. Discuss the following actual cases of discipline, show- 
ing the principle involved in each, and suggest whether it 
is probable any better course might have been followed in 
each case : — 

(a) A muscular lady teacher in the sixth grade of a Milwaukee 
grade school had for a pupil an overgrown boy, distinguished 
for his lack of knowledge. The boy was always showing off 
in various ways to the smaller children. One day he was 
" making a face " behind the teacher's back. She suddenly 
turned around, and caught him in the act. She jumped down 
the aisle, seized him by the shoulders, and shook him until 
he was breathless. He could not resist, and when she was 
through he was thoroughly subdued. After that episode the 
teacher was highly respected, and the discipline in her class 
was exceptionally good. 

(6) The most successful case of discipline I have ever seen was 
the case of a boy of about twelve who had a brute-like father, 
and had been whipped a great deal at home. Every teacher 
dreaded to have him in her room. He would scratch up every 
one's work around him, as well as his own. The principal 
had tried corporal punishment, but it was unsuccessful. The 
teacher tried to be indifferent to him. She placed people 
around him who did excellent work, and when he scratched 
up their papers, she would turn to the one whose paper was 
spoiled and say, — " That was a very good paper; I '11 give 
you a good on that." In this way, even the children became 
indifferent to his actions. 

One night the teacher kept him after school and talked to 
him a long time on doing the " square thing." The next day 
she found him trying to do better, and said " good." He im- 
mediately went back to his old tricks again. Every possible 
chance after that which the teacher had she would say " good " 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 607 

to him. He got so he would look for it, and do little things to 
see if she would say it. One day, however, he was particu- 
larly fiendish. The teacher kept him after school; and when 
they were alone she told him that when she first knew him she 
thought him the meanest boy she had ever known, but that 
she was entirely mistaken; that now when she understood him, 
she found him as fine and "square "a little gentleman as she 
had ever known. This was unexpected, and the child burst 
out crying. The teacher went down to him and tried to make 
him stop crying, but it was impossible; he was sobbing as 
a child rarely does. At last she quieted him, and they left 
the school together. Of course he often fell back into his old 
ways, but one could see that he was really trying to be good ; 
by the end of the year he was almost a model boy. The first 
part of the year he was shy, and never laughed or played 
with the other children. At the end of the year lie would talk 
over his work with the teacher, and was friendly with the 
other children. 

He had always been beaten, and he expected it from every 
one. He was suspicious of any one who tried to be kind to 
him; but by constant efforts and encouragement he tried to 
approach the standard which the teacher had set for him that 
night. 

(c) I once knew a mother who made a rule that her son should be 
in the house every night at eight o'clock. He always played 
as long as he wanted to, and it was after eight when he got 
home. His mother was always waiting for him with a light 
little switch. She would meet him at the door and start to 
whip him. He would run through the house, ever and anon 
getting a little touch of the whip, at which he would yell as 
if it were killing him. The tender-hearted mother simply 
could n't stand to see her son in such pain; so after the second 
or third yell she would stop and say, — " Now, will you be in 
to-morrow night at eight ? " The next night the same scene 
would occur, and so it went on for weeks. 

The boy knew what was coming every night, but it did n't 
hurt, and the fun of staying out more than made up for those 
few strokes of the whip. She tried forbidding him to go out 
at all; but when he would come after dinner and beg to go 
out " just for a few minutes," she simply could n't refuse him. 
Promising faithfully to be in at eight, he would run off, to 
come back when he got ready. 

(rf) A child at the table refused to ask for what he wanted, as 
he had been told to do. His mother informed him he could 
not have his plate until he would say " Please." He refused 



50S SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

obstinately, and persisted in saying " I want my plate." His 
plate was not given to him until about a half hour later, when 
he said " Please." He seemed as joyful over the fact that he 
had said the word, as his mother was, and he told every one 
who came in that he had said " Please." 

The next day, to his mother's surprise, the same difficulty 
arose ; but again he did not have his way until he had said the 
word. Since then she has had no difficulty with him, and the 
lesson has proved a good one. 
(e) In the fifth grade of a city school a very unruly, overgrown 
boy was annoying the teacher and every one else in the room, 
by deliberately shuffling his feet on the floor, and making as 
much noise as possible. The teacher endured it for a few mo- 
ments ; and then she turned to the school and said, — " Does 
the disturbance John Jones is creating bother any one besides 
myself ? " Immediately almost every hand in the room went 
up to affirm that John Jones was disturbing practically every 
one. " All right," said the teacher, confident that the school 
was on her side. " John Jones, you may come up here to my 
desk." The boy sheepishly arose and did as he was told. 

" Now, John," continued the teacher, " here are thirty-two 
people, whose time and quiet you are intruding upon. What 
right do you think you have to do this ? " John was silent. 
*' Now go to your seat, and get your lesson for the next class. 
If you do this properly, you won't have time to waste." John 
took his seat and went to work, and the teacher had no more 
trouble with him. 
(_/) It was 2 : 15 p. M., and the school was marching out for re- 
cess. Johnnie Jones was evidently to be "first to bat," judg- 
ing from his great haste to get out to the playground. He 
was just one aisle from the door now ; and what was the use 
of marching up and down another whole aisle, when you could 
pass right through a seat and escape ? Johnuie hesitated a 
single instant, and then he did it. 

The teacher's eyes flashed fire, as she called out in a rasp- 
ing voice, " Johnnie Jones, come back here this minute, and 
take your seat ! " 

Again Johnnie hesitated. But the teacher fairly flew after 
him, and pulling him back by one ear and one arm, she pushed 
him into his seat. " Now stay there, and see how you like that," 
she said, as she turned to put some work on the blackboard. 
Just then a small voice called to her from the door, and she 
turned to hear Willie Smith say, " Teacher, can't Johnnie 
please come now ? He 's up to bat, an' we '11 lose this game 
to the fourth-graders if Johnnie don't come an' make a home- 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 509 

run for us." But the teacher only told Willie to go out and 
close the door, while Johnnie took out his Speller and tried 
to choke back the tears. 

After recess nothing went right. The pupils all whispered 
incessantly about how mean teacher had been to Johnnie. 
Nobody recited well, and the teacher was so cross that when 
four o'clock came the pupils almost ran out of the room to 
get away. 



XIII. COOPERATION IN GROUP EDUCATION 

1. Describe an instance you have observed of a number 
of children of any age organizing themselves into a group 
for purposes of work or play, without suggestion or aid from 
any outsider. How did the idea of organization originate 
among them? 

2. In your own development, when did you first become 
conscious of the group as a unit ? With reference to what 
interest or activity did the sense of group solidarity earliest 
appear in your case? 

3. Do children in the city organize into groups earlier 
than they do in the country, or vice versa? Why should 
there be any difference in this respect ? 

4. Do boys organize into groups earlier than girls, or vice 
versa ? Why should there be any difference between them ? 

5. In the community you know best, what are the domi- 
nant interests which cause boys in the elementary school to 
form true groups ? Speak in the same way of girls. 

6. What dominant interests lead to group life among 
high-school boys ? High-school girls ? College men ? Col- 
lege women ? 

7. Describe the group life in any boy's gang that you 
know well. Mention its rules of organization, explicit or 
implied, its ideals, if there are any, etc. 

8. Describe any groups you know to have been formed 
spontaneously by boys or girls for literary, scientific, or 
sesthetic purposes. Indicate how the idea of organization 
originated, how the group is conducted, etc. 



610 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

9. Mention the by-laws, written or unwritten, of any boy 
groups you know well. Do the same for any girl groups. 

10. Describe in detail a group of either boys or girls, of 
which a minister is an active member in good and regular 
standing. Also a teacher. 

11. Can you distinguish elementary-school teachers from 
other people, by their dress or manner or appearance ? If 
so, what are their peculiar traits ? How is it in respect to 
high-school teachers ? University instructors ? 

12. What proportion of the fathers you know are com- 
rades to their young sons ? to their adolescent sons ? to 
their grown sons ? Speak in the same way of the relations 
of mothers to their daughters. 

18. What proportion of the boys you know speak of 
their fathers in terms of genuine good-fellowship ? How do 
the girls you know speak of their mothers ? Are the relations 
between fathers and daughters, and mothers and sons, more 
friendly than the other way around ? Why ? 

14. What are the opportunities for children to play 
freely without annoying adults in the community in which 
you now live? By careful observation, determine what 
proportion of the boys around you from seven to fifteen 
years of age have proper facilities for a reasonable amount 
of play according to their needs and interests. 

15. How do the boys in the community in which you 
live spend their leisure time in winter? Find out whether 
there is a suitable place of any sort whatever dedicated 
solely to the needs of boys. Are the girls any better off ? 

16. Describe any experiments you know being made by 
churches, schools, or charitable organizations to provide 
opportunities for children to play. 

17. What progress is the playground movement making 
in the community you know best ? Are there people opposed 
to it ? What arguments do they advance in hostility to it ? 
Comment on their opinions. 

18. Are the school buildings in your community sur- 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 511 

rounded by generous open spaces dedicated to the pupils for 
play purposes ? Comment on the situation as you find it. 

19. What games or plays do the boys and girls play to- 
gether in the community you know best? What do you 
think is the social value of these games ? What benefit do 
the girls receive from playing with the boys, and vice versa ? 
Be specific, in respect alike to games and to benefits. 

20. Do boys and girls of any age receive social injury 
from playing games together in the community you know 
best ? If so, mention the games, and the disadvantages re- 
sulting from playing them. 

21. To what extent do high-school boys and girls dance 
together in the community you know best ? Are they bene- 
fited socially thereby? Are they injured ? Give your reasons 
in detail. 

22. Comment on the value for social development of 
such old-fashioned school exercises as (a) " spelling down " 
matches ; (&) passing to the head or to the foot in recita- 
tions, according as one was superior or inferior to his class- 
mates ; (c) " speaking pieces " on Friday afternoons, and at 
the close of a school term ; (d ) evening debating exercises. 

23. What was the social value, if any, of the olden time 
practice in schools of having two pupils sit in the same seat, 
often a boy and a girl together ? 

24. Would you overlook fighting on the playground at 
school, provided the principals were not injured, and a dis- 
pute was settled as a result ? Do you consider fighting a 
part of a boy's legacy, — a natural right ? 

25. Is the worst feature about fighting among boys found 
in their aptness to develop profanity? If we could elimi- 
nate profanity, would fighting be a commendable exercise ? 

26. Granted that rewards are of service in school work, 
could they be given on the basis of the judgment of the 
entire school, rather than of the teacher alone? What 
would be the advantage of such a system ? What would be 
the difficulties in administering it ? 



512 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

27. Comment on the social value of the folio wins: school 
experiences : — 

(a) One thing which has aided me much in social development was 
the necessity of appearing regularly before the school to re- 
cite or read. This taught me to keep my poise before people. 
It also taught me never to try to talk unless I had something 
to say, and knew what it was. 

(J) One experience which helped me much was this : I had a 
problem to solve. I worked on it quite strenuously, with no 
success. I then went to the teacher with it, and said that I 
could not get it, as though I did not intend trying again. The 
teacher calmly said that he did not know before that I was 
a " quitter." I hardly knew what a " quitter " was then, but 
the word did not feel good. After thinking it over, however, 
I decided as to about what it must mean, and although I did 
nothing further to solve that problem, I decided never to " be 
a quitter" again. 

28. In the light of your own experience and your obser- 
vations in the schools of to-day, discuss each point in the 
following testimony : — 

As I look back over my school life, I do not see that I received 
direct social training through any specific school experience. I did 
receive some valuable training of this sort from mingling with other 
pupils on the playgrounds, in games, in the literary society, and at 
the few school social functions which were held. I feel now that there 
is not enough of these activities in the schools to-day. 

29. Is the following incident at all common among chil- 
dren of any age ? What principle is illustrated by it ? 

When I was a boy in the eighth grade I received a very bad injury 
on my head. For many weeks I remained at home, finally going back 
to school with head bandaged heavily, and smelling strongly of car- 
bolic acid and other chemicals. Some little girl classmates, who did not 
like the odor from my bandages, turned up their noses at me, and 
requested one teacher to allow them to change their seats. I then and 
there learned a lesson in self-control and sacrifice, by resolving never 
to cause another the chagrin and mortification I was compelled to 
suffer by my playmates. 

30. Comment on the following instance of group disci-J 

pline of non-conforming individuals : — 

A certain fraternity here in had some trouble this fall with 

their freshmen. At the beginning of the year a rule was read which 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 613 

said that freshmen "should not drink." The law was violated by the 
freshman class as a group, and those who should have had authority 
pursued the laissez /aire Y)olicy, and merely winked at the proceedings. 
Thus encouraged, the freshmen persisted in breaking the rule. Those 
in authority finally realized that the thing was going too far, and 
determined to discipline the freshmen at any cost. With this in view 
a meeting was called, and the rule was read and clearly stated once 
more. For a few days it was obeyed ; but finally two freshmen broke 
the rule, and came to their house with circumstantial evidence of the 
infraction. Then authority asserted itself. Those two freshmen were 
popped into a bath-tub full of ice-cold water, with all their clothes on, 
and left there to reflect upon their action. The other freshmen looked 
askance, but were given no satisfaction. The next week one freshman 
only persisted in breaking the rule. He was given a nice bath-tub party, 
and in addition a " talking to " such as he had seldom experienced in 
his life. That was the last of the insubordination, and a better disci- 
plined crowd of freshmen cannot now be found in the university. 

31. What principle of group organization among the 

young is ilkistrated in the following instance ? 

In a small town not far from the pupils in the upper grades of 

the elementary school became enthused with the idea of renting a hall 
for a sort of gymnasium for playing basketball and the like. The im- 
petus had been given them by one of their number who had lived 
formerly in a near-by town, where he had had the advantages of a 
gymnasium. The instructor approved of the movement, but resolved 
to see whether the pupils could not conduct affairs themselves, he being 
ready at any time to take over the matter if they failed. A few of the 
older boys got together and arranged a sort of contract, whereby the 
signers pledged themselves to pay a quarter each to rent a hall. This 
they passed around among the pupils until enough had been received 
to rent an unused hall. At first there was little regularity and order 
in the use of the hall ; but finding that their quarreling and squabbling 
over the hours each was to play was spoiling their fun, they organized 
themselves into a society and made out a regular schedule of hours for 
the members, arranged for games, and conducted the affair in an 
orderly manner during the winter months, with practically no advice 
given them by their elders. There was no organization to start with, 
and it was not until discord and quarreling became serious that the 
older ones began to take charge and organize into a definite body. 

32. What principle of group relation and control is illus- 
trated in the following instances ? 

(a) The best example of successful control that I ever witnessed 
was on the subject of talking in the halls at high school. The 



514 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

principal came into the assembly room and discussed tlie 
matter with the pupils, and got several people to express tlieir 
opinions. In this way he created a feeling of fellowship 
between himself and the pupils, and made them realize that 
they were in a sort of partnership with him in keeping order. 
After this friendly discussion the talking ceased. 

(b) When I was teaching in a country school, one of my boys, who 
was about thirteen years of age, used language in the presence 
of some of the little girls which was very improper. The next 
morning I gave a short talk on the occurrence, and said that 
I was sorry to learn that some of my boys were not gentle- 
men, as I had thought them to be. Such boys were altogether 
unfit to associate with the little girls of the school ; therefore, 
I had given orders to the girls that they were not to talk to 
or play with such a boy until he had apologized to them 
before the school for his conduct. This practically ostracized 
that boy from all the games. He stood it for three days, but 
gave way at last, and made the required apology, being very 
careful thereafter to keep the respect of myself and the 
rest of the pupils. 

(c) The following case of discipline came up in a fifth-grade city 
school. A boy of twelve had entered school late in the fall. 
The grade was in good working order, and the spirit of the 
work was fine. This new boy was larger and stronger physi- 
cally than the other boys, and he began immediately to tease 
and annoy them on the playground. He carried the same 
bullying spirit into the schoolroom, and chaos reigned round 
about wherever he sat. 

Finally it became evident that something had to be done, 
and that soon. The teacher knew her pupils, and how they 
would respond to her. She began one afternoon to tell an 
unusually interesting story. Even Frank listened until the 
story was well under way ; but all at once it occurred to him 
that he was not living up to his reputation, so he slapped at a 
fly loud enough to startle every one. The teacher had expected 
this interruption, and she ceased telling the story. The chil- 
dren begged her to go on, for Frank had not yet been in 
school long enough to be a leader or centre of attraction. 
When the teacher said that she could not tell the story with 
so much noise, some of the pupils suggested that Frank be put 
out of the room. But she herself suggested that this would 
be a temporary cure only. So the children concluded it was 
not the thing to do. One boy made the remark that Frank 
was spoiling all their fun out of doors, and another said that 
she could n't study near him. The teacher stated that the 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 515 

situation was a serious one, and as all were being annoyed, it 
would be well for them all to talk it over. Frank heard these 
remarks, mumbling something to himself all the time. Al- 
though corporal punishment was seldom heard of, the chil- 
dren seemed to think this the place for it. The teacher asked 
if they thought she ought to be obliged to do it, and they 
thought not ; but some of the boys said they would. In the 
mean time, looks of approbation passed from one to another. 
The teacher deftly turned the subject by saying that there 
was other work to do to-da}^ and they would have to think 
awhile. School was dismissed soon, and a few minutes later, 
two little girls came running back to tell the teacher that the 
boys had pounded Frank, and if she looked out of the window, 
she could see them chasing him home. 

That afternoon Frank did not appear, but the next morn- 
ing as he walked in a smile was plainly visible on all faces ; 
but nothing was ever said except to the mother, who wtote a 
note of complaint. Frank, although often careless, was never 
a nuisance again. 



XIV. PROBLEMS OF TRAINING 

1. In the first part of Chapter XIV there is described 
a concrete situation in which a child, J., refused to obey a 
command given him by his governess. What in your opin- 
ion would have been the advantage or the disadvantage to 
the child if he had been whipped by his governess until he 
had yielded to her will ? Suggest other methods of solving 
the problem presented by this case. 

2. Describe a specific instance of conflict you have ob- 
served between a parent or teacher and a child. Give the 
adult's and the child's point of view, and say which you 
think was in the right. Could the conflict have been avoided ? 
Could the adult have dealt with the situation more effect- 
ively than he did ? Why ? 

3. Discuss this proposition, taken from a recent manual 
for parents : — 

If the parent or the teacher really understood child nature, and was 
unselfish in his dealings with any child, seeking only to train him in 
the best way, there would never be any problem of diseipline. The 



516 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

trouble in educating children always comes from the adult's lack of 
understanding, or his unwillingness to go halfway in his relation with 
a child. 

4. Describe as accurately as you possibly can the situa- 
tion in a schoolroom you have observed in which there was 
an unusual amount of conflict between the teacher and his 
pupils. Bring out clearly the causes of this conflict, and say 
whether or not it could have been avoided. Do not allow 
your prejudices to influence your perception of the true 
factors operating in this case. Do not forget, either, that the 
attitudes of children in the past determine in large measure 
their conduct in the present. 

5. Describe in detail a schoolroom in which there is very 
little conflict between the teacher and his pupils, and point 
out the factors which are operating to produce this peaceful 
condition. 

6. Describe a home in which there is much quarreling 
between the parents and the children, and bring out clearly 
the causes therefor. 

7. Describe a church in which there is an unusual amount 
of conflict between the minister and his flock. What are the 
reasons for this ? 

8. Are the problems of training children to-day more 
serious in the city than in the country ? Or is it the other 
way around ? Why ? 

9. Are the problems of training more serious in the high 
school than in the elementary school ? in the college than 
in the high school ? Why ? 

10. Discuss this proposition : " Every child should be 
taught to obey for the sake of obedience." Whom should 
he obey at the age of two ? of five ? of twelve ? of twenty ? 
of thirty ? 

11. Aristotle thought children should not be suppressed 
when they were crying or screaming, for these activities 
were essential to their full development. On the other 
hand, Locke would not tolerate anything of the kind ; for 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 517 

if permitted to cry and scream, the child would acquire will- 
ful habits, which would set him against authority later on. 
With whom do you take sides ? Give reasons in full. 

12. Locke thought the chief problem in training was to 
develop in the child the power to deny his own cravings. 
This can be accomplished by refusing to give the child many 
of the things he asks for. Discuss the whole matter, present- 
ing definite concrete evidence in support of your view. 

13. Do women in training the young tend to make use 
of verbal discipline more largely than men ? Or is it the 
other way around ? 

14. Bring before your attention the best disciplinarian 
you have ever known. How did he or she secure results, — 
by " laying down the law " effectively, or by some other 
means ? 

15. Describe a parent or teacher you have observed 
whose commands were more often ignored than obeyed. Be 
careful to point out the reasons the commands carried little 
weight. 

16. Describe a parent or teacher you know well whose 
behests are always obeyed without delay or resistance. How 
does he differ in his methods from the person you described 
in response to the preceding question ? 

17. If you have read " The Hoosier Schoolmaster," com- 
ment on the principles of training and discipline expounded 
in that story. Mention the more important concrete situa- 
tions in which the schoolmaster was placed, and how he 
solved the problems presented to him. 

18. Say why " Arnold of Rugby " has come to stand for 
the highest kind of efficiency in dealing with schoolboys. 

19. Take any three of the teacher-characters in Dickens' 
novels, and comment on their personality and their methods 
of discipline. 

20. Mention a number of great teachers depicted in fic- 
tion, and point out the qualities of each which the authors 
aimed to celebrate. 



518 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

21. Plutarch declared that in his day parents paid little 
or no attention to the character or attainments of those 
who taught their children, thinking that any one who could 
keep them in order, and protect them from physical harm, 
would meet requirements. What do parents think along 
this line to-day ? Give concrete facts in support of your 
statement. 

22. Quintilian urged that in the training of children we 
should treat each as an individual with special tendencies 
and needs, so we should avoid dealing with them en masse. 
Do you agree ? To what extent do we observe Quintilian's 
principles in our practice to-day? 

23. Describe a father or a teacher who is at one time a 
genuine playfellow with his boys, but at another time their 
efficient instructor, and if need be their judge and corrector. 

24. So far as you have observed, are parents and 
teachers too free or too reserved in their relations with the 
children under their care ? Is it different in the city as com- 
pared with the country ? 

25. What principle of training is involved in the fol- 
lowing ? 

At the house where I board there is a little seven-year-old girl. She 
is pretty but to me unattractive, and although I love children and 
usually win their confidence at once, I took a dislike to this little girl, 
but in every way possible tried not to show it. Nevertheless, she actu- 
ally hates me, and makes no secret of the fact either. She would not 
say a kind word to me or step across the floor to serve me. If I have on 
any garment she has not seen before, she calls it out at the top of 
her voice, so that the other boarders can hear her, because she thinks it 
displeases me. 

26. Are parents and teachers more reserved with younger 
or with older children ? Is this best ? Discuss the matter at 
length. 

27. What pastimes do high-school pupils in the commu- 
nity you know best indulge in to-day, which might better be 
left until the completion of the school period ? 

28. Do theisest students in the high school dance the most? 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 619 

In answering this question, review your own experience as a 
student in the high school. Then get the opinion of a prin- 
cipal in whose views on such matters you have confidence. 

29. What is the relative rank in the legitimate work of 
the high school of the boys who smoke ? Be careful to get 
some accurate data relating to this matter ; do not be satis- 
fied with merely repeating current theories regarding it. 

30. Have you known boys and girls who were very 
" g^y " 3-8 high-school and college students, but who have 
become more or less hlase in maturity ? If so, describe the 
career of one such individual, and comment thereupon. 

31. Is it a help or a hindrance to a girl of twelve to have 
a " beau," who in the language of the day is a " steady " ? 
How is it with a boy of this age ? It will be easy to make 
platitudinous remarks in response to this qxiestion, but try 
to get some definite, specific information bearing on the 
matter. 

32. Ask the distinguished men and women about you 
whom you know well when they began to have "beaux." 
Then get their opinion on these propositions : — 

It would be better all around if boys did not begin to think about 
the girls, except as playmates, and vice versa, until the adolescent 
period is nearing completion. No one should have a regular beau, at 
least until graduation from the high school. 

33. Does the training of boys and girls together in the 
same school during the high-school period make it difficult 
to keep this period free from dancing and the like ? Would 
it be easier to delay the development of sex interest if the 
boys and girls were taught separately at this time ? 

34. What proportion of the girls in the co-educational 
high school you know best are distracted from the legiti- 
mate work of the school by the presence of boys ? Answer 
this question as it relates to the boys also. 

35. Comment on this statement : — 

From what I have observed, I do not find that the sentimental age 
ends with the adolescent period. Last year I was where I could ob- 



520 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

serve the conversation of three university (co-educational) girls, — a 
junior, a senior, and a girl who had graduated. They talked invari- 
ably about boys when together. They were all very good students, and 
girls who ordinarily would not be looked upon as sentimental. 

36. How would you deal with a situation where the boys 
in a high school were becoming too much interested in the 
girls, and vice versa ? Give an account of experiments in this 
direction that have proved successful. 

37. What would you have done in the following situa- 
tion? 

When I was teaching in the high school at home, one of the girls, 
who was considered " troublesome " by most of the faculty, discov- 
ered, or thought she discovered, that I was always " better-natured " 
when I had flowers around me. Consequently, I was seldom without 
flowers. Almost every day A. came with her floral offering. One result 
was, she and I got very well acquainted, and had many common inter- 
ests outside of school work. We came to like each other, and I have 
always maintained that her liking for me led her to do good work in 
my classes. I could never quite understand how other teachers could 
call her unladylike and a poor student, but I have learned since from 
her classmates that she " didn't do anything in some of her classes." 
Other teachers laughingly told me that she was " working " me. I had 
to confess to the influence of delicately scented, beautiful flowers. The 
question remains, — Was I bought ? I am certain that A. first brought 
her flowers with the intention of " buying me," or, as she would put it, 
rendering me less critical by subjecting me to the influence of flowers. 

38. Discuss the statement of facts in the following quo- 
tation. Also present your view of the most effective method 
of dealing with the matter : — 

In a small town girls as well as boys go to the neighboring towns to 
play basketball, etc. While on these trips, if left alone, they delight 
in doing things of which the chaperon would not approve, and which 
seem to them a little wicked. Should they be rigidly brought to task 
for these tendencies ? or how can such matters best be handled ? 

39. Discuss the statement of fact in the following quota- 
tion. Then discuss the principle of training involved : — 

Children, at least adolescents, and sometimes adults, try to make out 
that they are a little worse morally than they really are. Should par- 
ents and teachers try to remedy this ? And if so, how can it best be 
done ? 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 521 

40. Are the suppositions and inferences contained in this 
quotation sound? 

We believe that education probably teaches the same lessons, but is 
more appropriate for an immature individual than actual experience in 
moral situations. Then is not formal moral training which is designed 
to create correct attitudes toward individuals and society commend- 
able? 

41. Discuss the following : — 

In a high school with which I am very familiar, some of the pupils 
(girls) are not interested in any but a very small group of perhaps 
three or four special friends. They do not care for parties, or for associ- 
ation with the boys in the school. Would it be better for themselves 
and for society if they were urged, and even compelled, to mingle 
with the other pupils ? 

42. Do you think the following experience, described by 
a university student, is typical in principle ? 

" Politeness is to do and say the kindest things in the kindest way." 
This motto was in our second reader, and probably would have made 
no impression on me but for the fact that the teacher required an 
essay upon this motto. Each member of the class wrote an original 
essay, which emphasized the thought. During the discussion one 
member of the class said something that was not considered polite 
according to the definition, and this increased the impression. 

43. How should the following type of person be treated 
in the elementary and in the high school ? 

A. is a young man twenty years of age. He has been from childhood 
timid, bashful, and taciturn. He has not cared for associates ; in fact, 
he declines association with others. He is ill-at-ease in the presence 
of any one except a close friend. He acquired this attitude on account 
of the domineering manners of older brothers, and on account of ill 
health. He cannot converse with another in any connected way. He 
seems to lack thought material. He is considered a bore by all who 
know him. 

However, A. is very pronounced in his desire to communicate his 
thoughts. He is frequently overheard while addressing the cows in the 
stable on political subjects. He is much sought after to make speeches 
at birthday parties and family gatherings. At such occasions he is 
eloquent, and does not lack thought material, or words for expression 
of this material. He writes lengthy articles for the local newspapers. 
He takes part in numerous debates. 



522 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

He has developed a great propensity for talking to himself or to 
some imaginary person. After he has retired, he will frequently be 
heard to talk with some imaginary companion, although he would 
become mute if any real person should enter his presence. 

44. How would you explain the differences between the 
individuals described in tlie following observations made by 
a careful student of human nature ? 

(a) I have observed two types of boys, who furnish examples of 
directly opposite effects of suppression at home. Both of these 
boys are freshmen in the university. They come from differ- 
ent cities, different kinds of homes, and have been brought up 
by different kinds of parents, though both have been exceed- 
ingly restricted. 

The first boy. A., is the son of a well-to-do physician. He 
has had an excellent home, and within the limits of the home 
a great deal has been furnished that has interested him. His 
parents are refined and cultured people. While he has al- 
ways been provided with things which helped to increase his 
knowledge and ability, he has been practically cut off from 
the society of other boys and girls. His parents demanded 
that he should always come home immediately after school, 
where either work or play in the attic awaited him. He was 
never allowed to play football, baseball, or anything in the 
least rough. He never invited other boys to play in his yard, 
and he never went to play in theirs. When he reached the 
age of fourteen or fifteen, other boys ceased to take any in- 
terest whatever in him. I believe he was never known to 
talk to a girl. 

This boy, as I said before, is now in the university. He seems 
to be reticent, dull, uncommunicative, and seemingly sullen. 
He seems to take no interest in what others are doing, or in 
their relation to him as a member of their group. He seems 
isolated, even in the midst of many. 

The second boy, B., was brought up under different circum- 
stances, but was kept continually under the eyes of an ever- 
watchful mother. The home of this boy is a very plain and 
ordinary one. His parents are of limited means. They are 
quite lacking in education, and their social position is not 
very high. They are, however, honest, earnest, respectable 
people. 

B. was brought up on the same general plan as A., but not 
quite so severely and strictly. While other boys played after 
school, B. did odd jobs for the neighbors while he was little, 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 523 

and later worked in a store. He seldom had time or money 
for entertainment ; the proceeds of his labor went to his par- 
ents. During the years he attended high school he always 
worked during vacations, and was at home evenings. 

This boy, since coming to , has completely changed his 

mode of life. He is social, friendly, and inclined to enjoy 
those things which other boys enjoy. He is not a book-worm, 
but goes out with other boys and takes a keen, active inter- 
est in everything pertaining to university life. His attitude 
toward strangers has undergone a complete revolution. 

45. Comment on tlie followino; : — 

Not long ago, a child of about three or four years visited with her 
mother, in a sorority house containing twenty girls. The mother, a 
dreamer, — some say a genius, — spends all her time writing books. 
She makes a " companion " of her three-year-old child. So the child 
does as she chooses, goes to bed at eleven or twelve, when her mother 
does, and talks continually at the table, unchecked by her mother. 
One night we had company to dinner, — a girl we wanted to make a 
" hit " with, as it happened. The visitor sat with her back toward the 
main part of the dining-room, while Virginia sat facing the room, so 
that she was back to back with the visitor. 

During dinner, as we were talking to our guest, Virginia turned 
around in her chair, and, without warning, wiped her spoon in the vis- 
itor's hair. As the mother apparently never noticed it, we apologized 
to our friend, and continued dinner. Soon the child turned around 

again, and deliberately began to pull down Miss 's hair. The mother 

still seemed oblivious to her daughter's actions, who continued her 
misbehavior until it became necessary for one of us to reprimand her, 
and to keep guard to see that she practiced no more indignities on 
Miss . This is only one of many such incidents. 

46, What principles of social development and training 
are illustrated in the following autobiographical note ? In 
discussing it, say whether the case is a typical one. 

The most impressive social experience of my life occurred when I 
was a senior in the high school. Although my mother always dressed 
me well, I never had had a silk dress ; and I, like other young girls, 
liked pretty clothes. However, for the banquet which the juniors pro- 
vided for us, my mother gave me a blue silk dress. It was pretty 
and becoming, and I was very happy over it. The eventful night came, 
and my heart was filled with supreme joy. The Junior Banquet was 
quite a social function, and every one was there in his " best clothes." 



524 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

The principal, whom I liked very much, remarked immediately about 
my pretty dress. That remark placed me in the seventh heaven. As 
the evening passed, the principal was rather attentive, and I was al- 
most beside myself with joy; and to cap the climax, when the time 
for refreshments came he asked me to go with him. From a group of 
thirty girls the principal chose me. I cannot explain the effect all this 
had upon me. I was only sLxteen at the time, and I thought it was the 
blue dress which was the cause of so much attention on the part of the 
principal. Consequently, after that I wanted silk all the time, until I 
became older and knew better. However, I still believe that " fine 
feathers make fine birds." This experience meant more than this to 
me. It made me feel that the principal, whom I had placed far, far 
above me in every respect, was only an ordinary human being after 
all ; but since I was to graduate in a week or so, I think that had no 
particular effect on me. But now, as I think of the matter, many ques- 
tions come to me. Is it wise for a teacher to take part in the social 
functions of the town in which he is teaching ? If so, to what extent ? 
In what way can he take part, if he does, so as not to lower his position 
in the estimation of his pupils ? It seems to me that discipline and 
efficiency in instruction will be out of the question when pupils realize 
that their teacher is only an ordinary human being after all. 

47. Discuss the principles of social development and 
training illustrated in the following instances : — 

(a) Will Brown had been the terror of the school from the time 
he was in the second grade, when he began to realize that 
he could make his teacher angry. If the teacher's attention 
was ever called to a fight on the playground. Will Brown was 
always found to be the cause of it. He got into every possible 
scrape, and did everything a bad boy could do, and was the 
bully of the school. He had to stand in the corner, stay in at 
recess, stay after school, and was whipped until it seemed all 
the wickedness must have been whipped out of him, but all 
to no avail. He only became more stubborn every time he 
was whipped. In the high school he still continued his mis- 
chievous pranks, and each teacher in turn tried all her methods 
to make Will come to time. He found supreme joy in the fact 
that he could annoy them all the time, and that they did not 
dare to whip him. When the new assistant in German arrived. 
Will said he could tell by her scared look that he would make 
it lively for her. During her hour in the assembly room. Will 
found any number of excuses to go up on the platform, and he 
always stubbed his toe on the last step, and stumbled, creat- 
ing a great disturbance, and making the other pupils laugh. 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 625 

Miss X said nothing and ignored him. Will did his best 

to try to annoy Miss X for the next two weeks, and then, 

finding that she paid no attention to him, and would not get 
angry, he finally settled down to work and became a fairly 
good boy. 
(b) It was a beautiful evening in September, and the call from 
the outdoor world was strong. It was Thursday evening, 
and Thursday evening was the maid's evening "out." The 
small girl, who is the heroine, or perhaps the victim of this 
episode, was racing down the lawn to the gate to play at 
Blindman's Buff with the neighborhood children, when her 
mother called to her to come back and help Mary (the serv- 
ing girl) with the dinner dishes, since this was Thursday 
evening. This did not suit Ethel's notion at all, and after 
much hedging and begging the question, she finally refused 
to do as her mother bade her. Her mother then told her that 
she was free to choose between helping Mary with the dishes 
and going to bed. Ethel, with her young head in the air, at 
once proceeded up the stairs to her own room, somewhat com- 
forted by the thought of the new " Youth's Companion " which 
had come that afternoon, and which was now in her room. 
She was undressing, preparatory to going to bed, when her 
mother came in, and after quite a severe lecture went away, 
taking not only the " Youth's Companion," but also the elec- 
tric light globes with her, and incidentally locking the door 
on the outside. Ethel lay on the bed crying, half from anger 
and half from pity of her own hard lot. After what seemed 
an eternity, she heard her father's footsteps on the stairs. He 
came to her door, and finding it locked, bade Ethel open it at 
once. Ethel explained that her mother had the key, and told 
him the whole affair. She thought that her father went down- 
stairs with unusual rapidity, and was at a loss to understand 
it, until she heard him coming up again in a few minutes. 
He unlocked the door, came in, screwed in the electric light 
bulbs, and sat down near the bed, at the same time producing 
from his pocket a box of marshmallows and the " Youth's 
Companion." The influence of the candy, aided by the influ- 
ence of the reading aloud of the magazine from cover to cover, 
served to dispel the look of antagonism on Ethel's face, and 
by ten o'clock she was fast asleep. Her father went softly 
out of the room, and down the stairs, where he favored 
Ethel's mother with a few ideas of his own on the subject 
of the bringing up of children, 
(c) In a certain junior class in a high school the boys were in 
the habit of occupying the front row of seats in the recitation 



526 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

room. On entering the class one day, they found company 
occupying their accustomed places, so they sat in the second 
row of seats. During the progress of the recitation one of 
the boys unconsciously put his hand on the back of the seat in 
front of him, and as it was not securely fastened, it moved. 
The teacher noted the act ; and thinking the boy did it pur- 
posely, she asked him to come up and sit on the front seat 
beside the company. This the boy did, rather embarrassed, 
however, at having the attention of all centred on him. To hide 
his embarrassment he took from his pocket a small spoon, 
and began to play with it. The teacher, thinking he did this 
to aggravate her, and not realizing it was merely because he 
was embarrassed, asked the boy to give it to her, saying she 
wanted it for a souvenir. This second attack angered the 
boy, and aroused his stubbornness, and he refused to give up 
the spoon. Upon this refusal the teacher lost control of her- 
self and became very angry, saying, " You can either give 
me the spoon or leave the class." The boy immediately rose 
to leave, and as he was passing out of the door the teacher 
told him he could not return to class again until he made a 
public apology. This the boy refused to do, not feeling it was 
right to ask him to do this when he had not offended inten- 
tionally or maliciously. Later, the case went before the school 
board, and they decided that he could return to class without 
making an apology, 
(d) Last year my work lay among the children of all nationalities 
(save Americans) in a suburb of Chicago, devoted exclusively 
to manufacturing interests. I stopped at the building of a 
fellow principal one afternoon, and saw a strange spectacle. 
Medeo Cassakio was standing facing the teacher, chewing 
gum and pulling it forth in that refined way most teachers 
have seen; Tony Napoli was half-standing at his desk, wav- 
ing his hand most forcibly ; and Sam Raczykowski, poor sul- 
len Sam, who bore a chronic grudge against the universe, was 
standing facing the teacher too, wagging his head and grum- 
bling in an undertone. And the teacher — she sat there smil- 
ing, and urging on their efforts whenever they showed signs 
of flagging. She explained that these boys were so fond of 
these chewings and hand-wavings and grumblings that re- 
peated warnings had been in vain. "So," she continued, in a 
manner which intimated she thought she was doing the boys 
a favor, " I told them I 'd stay with them this evening, and 
let them enjoy themselves in this manner as long as they 
pleased. I am enjoying it as much as they are ; in fact, more, 
perhaps, for strange as you might think it, they say they don't 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 627 

want to do it any more. But I think such fun as this ought to 
last till supper time." 

It did n't last long, but it lasted long enough to give the 
boys a surfeit of their pet vices. This was good discipline, with 
this particular principal and these particular fifth-graders, 
because : (1) It seemed so just to them. (2) There was no 
nagging. The teacher was acting like a " good fellow " with 
them — only too good. (3) It appealed to their sense of 
humor, more effective than their sense of pain, for the poor 
lads were used to that at home. After that, even Sara, the 
hardest problem of the trio, used to stop short at the first 
grumble when he met her quizzical glance. 

XV. METHODS OF CORRECTION 

1. Is corporal punishment as a method of correction 
declining or increasing in importance in the school in which 
you received your elementary education ? Give the detailed 
evidence upon which your opinion is based. 

2. Has the conduct of the pupils in the elementary 
school, referred to in question 1, improved since you were 
a pupil therein ? Or are the pupils less well-behaved than 
they were formerly ? Be careful to give an abundance of 
definite, accurate data in support of your view. 

3. If you find a change taking place in the conduct of 
pupils in the elementary school in which you were trained, 
show what has produced or is now producing this change, 
whether for better or for worse. Has corporal punishment 
had anything to do with it? What is the evidence in the 
case? 

4. Were you at any time in your elementary-school 
career under a teacher who never made use of corporal 
punishment in correction of the errors of pupils? If so, 
describe in detail the methods employed by this teacher, 
and their success or failure in maintaining " good order " 
in the school. 

5. Describe an elementary-school teacher you know well 
who freely employs the rod or the ferule in the school- 
room. Why does he need to make use of these instruments 



528 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

of discipline? Does he have "good order " in his school? 
Do his pupils like him ? Do they respect him ? Do they 
make rapid advances in their work under him? Do not 
allow yourseK, in discussing these questions, to be in- 
fluenced by current theories regarding the matters to which 
they relate. 

6. As a rule, do men teachers make use of corporal pun- 
ishment in the schoolroom more freely than women teach- 
ers ? Or is it the other way around ? Whatever you find 
the tendency to be, explain it. 

7. Are there any methods of correction that may be said 
to be predominantly feminine in character, and others that 
may be said to be predominantly masculine in character ? 
If so, make out lists in both cases. 

8. Do you know any person, man or woman, who has 
arrived at full maturity without ever having received cor- 
poral punishment for wrong-doing ? If so, describe carefully 
the social and ethical status of this individual. Say whether 
he is self-controlled, whether he adajDts himself readily to 
the people about him, whether he is liked by his associates, 
and so on. 

9. Do you know any person who was whipped a great 
deal during his childhood and youth ? If so, describe in 
detail his present social and ethical status. Say, also, 
whether he seems now to have a happy disposition, and to 
be optimistic about life in general. 

10. Have you observed that corporal punishment is 
more in vogue in the country than in the city ? or have you 
noticed that the reverse is true? In any event, explain the 
situation as you find it. 

11. Have you observed that parents are using the rod 
to-day less than they did when you were a child ? Are they 
using it more? What is the evidence? Does it make a 
difference whether the parents are in the city or in the 
country ? 

12. Do native-born German parents use the rod more 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 529 

freely than American parents ? How is it with Irish parents ? 
with Scandinavian parents? with English parents? 

13. Were you ever whipped when you were a pupil in 
the high school ? Have you observed any one who was cor- 
rected in this way in the high school ? If so, describe the 
matter in detail, and state your opinion respecting the 
effect of the punishment upon the offender. 

14. John Locke would whip a child if he was obstinate. 
Describe a genuine concrete case of obstinacy in a child, 
show what gave rise to it, how it was handled, and with 
what results. 

15. Plutarch thought it brutalized a child to strike 
him. Have you known cases in corroboration of Plu- 
tarch's view? Have you known cases in corroboration of 
just the opposite of this view ? Describe the cases in detail. 

16. Rousseau and Spencer maintained that a child should 
be made to appreciate the ill consequences upon his own 
welfare of any vn'ong act for which he might be responsible. 
In the light of your own experience, discuss the view held 
by these writers. 

17. Make out a list of typical misdeeds of a child one 
year old, which might be readily and effectively corrected 
by the method of " natural consequences." Make out such 
a list for a child three years old. Ten years old. A youth 
nineteen years old. 

18. Make out a list of typical misdeeds of a child one 
year old that cannot easily be corrected by the method of 
" natural consequences." Make out such a list for a child 
five years old. Ten years old. Fifteen years old. 

19. What proportion of the adults you know well (in- 
cluding yourself) are wont to ascribe their social adversi- 
ties to their own unfortunate social attitudes ? Discuss the 
matter at length, illustrating your position with definite 
concrete cases. 

20. Discuss the use of sarcasm as a means of correc- 
tion for wrong-doing. Cite cases of sarcastic teachers and 



530 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

parents, and describe their influence upon the children they 
have trained. 

21. In the same way discuss the use of ridicule as a 
means of correction for wrong-doing, and give instances of 
the success or failure of this mode of procedure. 

22. Also, discuss scolding as a means of correction, and 
give concrete instances, as in 21. 

23. What is the social and educational significance of 
the term " an incorrigible child " ? Describe such a child, 
and give an account of his upbringing. 

24. If you had been asked to advise Mr. R , men- 
tioned in the following note, regarding the control of his 
school, what counsel would you have given him ? 

Mr. R was a good teacher so far as presenting his subjects was 

concerned ; but when it came to disciplining a school, he was sadly at 
fault. In the first place, his personal appearance was somewhat against 
him, and his actions only served to emphasize the defects, so that he 
was the butt of all the students' jokes. He was nervous and excitable, 
and very inquisitive. If there was any commotion in the rear of the 
room, he would rush down there, to see what the trouble was, and of 
course everybody would be innocent. He insisted upon getting and 
reading every note that was thrown across the room, and this delighted 
the pupils, for often the notes were blank sheets of paper carefully 

folded, or some joke about Mr. R himself. If he was conducting 

a class in the assembly room, he would interrupt the class perhaps half 
a dozen times, to go to pick up a note, or to talk to some pupil who 
was whispering ; or perhaps he would violently slam his book on the 
desk, and say, — " We will have to wait until this noise ceases." The 
noise would cease for just about five minutes. When the class had 
resumed work, it would be worse than ever. Not a day passed but 

what Mr. R had a long list of names of people to stay after 

school. But this was n't much of a penalty, for they always had such 
a good time, and made so much noise, that he usually dismissed them 
before the time was up. The poor man put up with this behavior on 
the part of the students for about half a year, and then, realizing that 
he had no control over them, he resigned and left town. 

25. How would you deal with a case like the following? 

R. was one of the smartest boys in my school, but he had never 
been forced to any line of conduct ; so, forming a dislike for Mr. A.'s 
authority, he sought in every manner to annoy and thwart him. Other 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 531 

teachers avoided coming into contact with his will by a series of diplo- 
matic movements. When in Mr. A.'s classes, R. broke every rule of 
behavior that could possibly be formed. He ate candy, threw paper, 
talked in an undertone, and even walked around the room, calling on 
his different friends. In the literary society, should a friend be the 
president, no better behaved boy was present. Even when some one he 
disliked occupied the chair, his conduct was angelic beside his usual 
school behavior. When he himself was president, he demanded and 
usually obtained the perfect order which enabled a society to have a 
good record and produce good work. In the meetings of the athletic 
club, his conduct, while not always perfect, was a large per cent better 
than in school. In the meetings of his class, because he disliked one 
girl, he took advantage of every chance to be on the opposite side. It 
always seemed to me that it was his great love for a combat of will 
power which made him so disagreeable. Had some one crushed him, 
probably he would not have continued ; but he was always victorious, 
and enjoyed not only the victory, but the fact that it brought him 
before the school, and made the eyes of the students large with wonder 
at his daring. 

26. Below are described a number of typical cases of cor- 
rection in the home and in the school. Discuss each case, 
indicating what principle is involved, and give your opinion 
as to whether the most effective method was employed in 
each instance. 

(a) One of the eighth-grade pupils in a Western school had been 
a constant source of trouble to his teacher. Whenever the boy 
misbehaved, the teacher became exasperated and lost his tem- 
per in trying to correct him. One day Harry was refused per- 
mission to go to the Library, just o£E the main room. The boy 
went in spite of the refusal. He was requested to remain in 
his seat during recess in punishment for it. But thinking he 
could overrule the teacher, he got up to leave. The teacher 
caught him by the collar, and was about to administer a few 
blows, when the boy turned and struck him several times. 
The next day the boy was expelled from school, and being 
idle during the day, he grew constantly worse outside the 
school. 

(J) A little girl had received a piano as a present. As long as 
practicing proved a novelty, she was quite willing to play with- 
out being told. However, after a couple of years had passed 
she grew tired of practicing incessantly, and no amount of 
reasoning, coaxing, or scolding could make her practice as she 
should. Finally, her father, after talking about an hour, sent 



532 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

her with a note to her music teacher, stopping the lessons, and 
he made a pretense of selling the piano. This was kept up 
for over a week in spite of the girl's tears and protestations, 
and proved so effective that her parents had no more trouble 
with her. 

(c) One of the most effective punishments my mother ever inflicted 
upon me, was to deprive me of the privilege of helping her 
with the household duties. Not usually a very industrious 
child, immediately upon committing some deed I knew to be 
wrong, I was filled with a great desire to help everybody. My 
mother's gentle but firm remark, " I don't need any of your 
help to-day," left me to my otherwise well-loved play or story- 
books. But the stronger the realization that I could not be 
of any help, the greater my desire to work, and the more 
positive the decision never to transgress again. 

(d) A new gymnasium had just been completed, and arrangements 
made for the various grades to use it. Because of their excite- 
ment and desire to get into the new work, the seventh-grade 
pupils were so disorderly in going down for the first time, 
that complaints of disturbance came from several other rooms. 
Their teacher, Miss A., reprimanded them gently, telling them 
how other children were disturbed. But she was new, so they 
resolved to try her, and the next time they were even more 
noisy than before. This time she said nothing about it, and 
such remarks as " she 's easy," were heard on the playground, 
for they thought they had won out. It happened that the 
sixth and seventh grades were seated together, and as it was 
desired to take but one grade to the gymnasium at a time, 
arrangements were made with Miss L., a high-school girl, to 
remain with the other class. The time for the next class came. 
The children hastily put away their books, and were ready to 
dash downstairs, many of them bent on mischief. Miss L. 
appeared at the door. Miss A. said quietly, but so the class 
could hear," We do not need you to-day. Miss L., thank you. 
There is to be no gymnastic work at this hour." All was quiet 
then. The plans of the children were foiled ; the day was won. 
When dismissed, the children overdid the matter of going 
downstairs quietly, to the extent of not doing it naturally. 
Miss A. made no comment. She knew the unnaturalness would 
wear off better without it. Many of the children appeared 
with rubbers on the next day, though it was bright and sunny, 
because they thought they would go downstairs more quietly 
with them on. The class was never omitted again, nor did 
any more complaints come from the other teachers. 

(e) Next door to us lives a boy of about twelve years of age. He 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 533 

is an orphan, and his grandfather and grandmother are 
attempting to bring him up. Like most boys of his age, he 
has tried to smoke; and he and several of his companions 
will go anywhere out of the grandfather's sight and smoke. 
When his grandfather first discovered him, he grasped him 
by the arm and led him into the house, and we knew some- 
thing serious was about to happen. It was not long before 
we heard the boy screaming. We could hear his grandfather 
whipping him, scolding him, and even swearing at him. The 
very next day, however, this boy was caught again at the same 
trick, and he received the same punishment ; but it did not 
cure him. The boy was willing to take the chances of escaping 
his grandfather. The punishment he received only made him 
angry and stubborn, and he grew very heartily to dislike his 
grandfather. He was a boy who was lovable if approached in 
the right manner, and he would do almost anything for you 
if you would only treat him kindly. 

(y) It was not long before another case of discipline for smoking 
came to my notice, which amused me at first, but which proved 
the wiser of the two methods. The second boy's father dis- 
covered him in his lumber yard smoking the stub of an old 
cigar he had found. He had evidently just begun at it. When 
he saw his father, he was about to throw away the cigar, but 
his father said, "No, don't do that; come with me and finish 
smoking it." He took the child to his place of business, and 
saw that he finished the cigar. Of course, it made the boy 
deathly sick, but he could only blame himself. He was very 
much ashamed. He begged his father not to tell anybody 
about it, and, as far as I know, he has never tried smoking 
since that time. 

(.9) When my little nephew was three years old, he was possessed 
of the disagreeable habit of biting people. It seemed an 
uncontrollable passion with him. He could never resist the 
temptation to test the strength of his strong white teeth. One 
day, when he had made the matter very serious by biting his 
baby sister's fingers severely, his mother realized that some- 
thing desperate must be done. It happened that at this time 
his baby sister was the possessor of six sturdy little teeth, 
which had had excellent training upon an ivory ring. The 
mother bade the boy to put his finger into baby's month, in 
order to discover how many teeth she had. The little fellow 
immediately complied with the request, and a moment later 
he withdrew his hand with a shriek of pain. He had at last 
discovered the sensation caused by a bite. This experience 
cured the child of his unfortunate habit. 



534 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

(A) A boy of about five years was an only child in a family. One 
day he was playing with the kitten, pulling its tail and ears, 
and putting his fingers in its eyes, until finally his mother in- 
terfered, and told him very gently that it hurt the kitten. He 
paid no attention to her, but kept on. She finally offered him 
candy if he would stop. He took the candy greedily, keeping 
one hand on the cat; and when the candy was gone, and his 
mother had turned her attention to something else, he went 
back again to the cat. His mother continued to buy him off 
with candy until the supply was exhausted, when she admin- 
istered a few slaps, with the promise of his receiving harder 
ones when his father should return. This only made him sulky 
and obstinate, and when the cat was forcibly removed from 
his grasp, he lay on the floor and screamed lustily. 

(i) A boy in the fifth grade had a habit of laughing aloud when 
anything out of the ordinary happened in school. Often in 
his work something would " strike him funny " and he would 
give a very audible and annoying ha ! ha ! The teacher tried 
corporal punishment at last, but it was of no avail. She was 
not strong enough to whip the boy so that it would hurt him. 
He had no fear of the whipping, and took it rather as a joke. 
The annoyance to the teacher brought no great dissatisfac- 
tion to him, nor deprived him of any privilege, so he had no 
incentive to stop laughing for his own good. 

{y) The incident I am about to relate took place in a fourth-grade 
penmanship class. One of the boys in this class had a tend- 
ency to do little things to aggravate the teacher. At first the 
latter tried to overlook many of the things which this boy did, 
thinking that by so doing she might through kindness get him 
to mend his ways. Finally, however, seeing that this device 
was not going to work, she decided to try another plan. 

One day she told the class to place their pens on their desks, 
and when she gave the signal they were all to take them 
up at the same time and begin writing. This boy, however, 
decided he did not want to take up his pen with the others, so 
when the signal was given he made no attempt to take up 
his pen. The teacher, on observing this, said not a word, but 
immediately walked down to where the boy was sitting, took 
him by the coat collar, and marched him out of the room, 
telling him that when he was ready to go on and do things 
when he was told to, he might come back. The boy remained 
out of the room only a short time. He then returned, quietly 
took his seat, and thereafter was ever ready to do as he was 
told. 
(A;) A mother in our neighborhood had a child, a little girl, about 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 635 

eight years old, who continually disobeyed every wish or com- 
mand of her mother. Finally, as a last resort, the despair- 
ing mother said: " If you do that again, I will put you in the 
dark cellar." The child turned away and disobeyed. Immedi- 
ately the mother put the girl in the cellar as threatened. For 
a very short time all was quiet, then followed the most fear- 
ful, terrorized, heartrending yells. The trembling mother 
standing outside the door was almost as frightened as the 
child, until she heard the yells abruptly cease, and a low 
moan follow; and then she tore the door open, and picked up 
the pale and unconscious child. The child did not seem any 
more obedient after this experience; but as a result of the 
punishment she is to this day " scared to death " of the dark. 

(I) When I was about nine years old I attended a country school. 
One of the boys of the school was very fond of whispering. 
The teacher soon began to make him stand in the corner every 
time he did it. I am sure that boy stood in the corner at least 
twice every day during the entire eight months of the school 
year. This punishment was futile, for the boy continued to 
whisper whenever it was possible. 

(m) My brother (age seven) had been forgetting to put on his 
overshoes before coming home from school at the noon hour. 
He was reminded of it time after time when he started off in 
the morning, but every noon he came home without them and 
got his scolding. After this had been going on for some time, 
he was met at the door one noon, and not allowed to enter 
the house. He was sent back to the schoolhouse for his over- 
shoes. He protested and cried, but he had to go back — a dis- 
tance of about five blocks — before he could have his dinner. 
And it was the very last time he forgot his overshoes. 



XVI. SUGGESTION 

1. Plato would not allow the young to listen to stories 
that described sacred beings as indulging in any coarse or 
immoral practices, lest they should derive vicious sugges- 
tions therefrom. Do we permit our children to hear any 
stories of this character ? Be specific in your reply. 

2. Plato would banish from the nursery and the school- 
room all stories describing ugly or horrible people or things, 
so that the young might not become acquainted with such 
objects. Do we banish such stories from present-day nurser- 



536 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

ies or schoolrooms ? Is the effect of these stories unwhole- 
some ? Why ? 

3. Plato would not allow children to hear tales of osrres 
or goblins or other beings which would frighten them. Do 
we agree with Plato in our present-day practice ? Make out 
a list of tales commonly told to children, in which the ele- 
ment of fear is the dominant one. 

4. In telling children the story of Little Red Riding-hood, 
say, would you omit or transform the scene in which the 
wolf eats the grandmother ? Why ? 

6. In the light of our discussion of suggestion, speak of 
the benefit or the harm that would come to a child from 
reading each of the following, as types : (a) The Iliad and 
the Odyssey; (6) The Old Testament; (c) The Greek 
Myths ; (d) Old English Folk Tales ; (e) Mother Goose ; 
(/) ^sop's Fables ; (^) Siegfried ; \K) Beowulf ; (i) 
Robin Hood ; (J) Knights of the Round Table ; (/<;) Rob- 
inson Crusoe ; (/) Alice in Wonderland ; (m) Hiawatha ; 
(n) The Great Stone Face; (o) Lady Nicotine; (^) The 
King of the Golden River. 

6. Discuss the psychological and social effects upon the 
young of (a) a book like " Peck's Bad Boy " (6) ; the sort 
of book people have in mind when they describe it as a 
" Sunday-school book " ; (c) the " funny page " of the Sun- 
day newspaper. 

7. Plato would not permit children to hear stories in 
which death was depicted as an undesirable or dreadful ex- 
perience. Do we tell such stories to our children ? Is the 
effect good or otherwise ? Why ? 

8. Speak in particular upon the social and moral value 
on childhood of (a) fairy tales ; (6) myths ; (c) fables. 

9. Should children be told ghost stories? Give your 
reasons in full. 

10. Plato would not allow a boy to "sow wild oats"; 
Locke would give him greater latitude. With whom do you 
take sides ? Why ? 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 537 

11. Plato would not permit the young to listen to music 
whieli suggested softness or indolence or luxury, — the 
Ionian and the Lydian harmonies, for example. Do we think 
there are any harmonies which our children should not 
hear ? If so, what ones are generally condemned ? 

12. Which of our familiar melodies suggest indolence, 
luxury, and softness? Would you banish these from the 
home and the school ? Why ? 

13. Which of our melodies frequently heard suggest (a) 
courage, (6) fortitude, (c) endurance, ((?) calmness, (e) 
temperance? (/) charity, (^) humility, (A) courtesy? 
Would you give them a prominent place in the training 
of children? Why? 

14. What is the efPect upon the young of songs such as : — 
(a) Little Annie Kooney. 

(6) There '11 be a Hot Time in the Old Town To-night, 
(c) Yankee Doodle. 
(cZ) The Star-Spangled Banner, 
(e) Should Auld Acquaintance be Forgot? 
(/) Dixie. 

15. Plato and Aristotle would not allow such musical in- 
struments as the flute to be heard by children. Would you 
banish certain instruments from the home and the school ? 
Why? Give specific evidence showing the good and evil 
effects of different instruments. 

16. Locke maintains that when a mother addresses her 
young daughter as "My Little Queen," "My Lovely Prin- 
cess," and so on, she cultivates vanity in the child. Do you 
agree? Discuss the matter by citing definite cases where 
good or ill results have followed from this practice. 

17. Locke maintains, also, that when parents beat their 
children they suggest cruelty to them, and so corrupt them. 
Do you agree ? Discuss this question in connection with the 
adage, " Spare the rod and spoil the child." 

18. Further, Locke declares that when parents urge their 
children to eat, saying to them, " What can I get you that 



538 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

you would like?" and so on, they suggest intemperance and 
gluttony to them. Discuss Locke's view. 

19. In present-day educational literature one often reads 
the following statement : " It is impossible to make a child 
good by punishing him." What do those who make such a 
statement mean by it? How do they think a child can be 
made good? Discuss the whole matter. 

20. Will the praising of a neighbor's children by a mo- 
ther tend to make her own children imitate those who are 
praised ? Give specific examples to illustrate your view of 
the matter. 

21. Suggest practicable and effective methods of dispell- 
ing a child's fear of the dark, and state the principle upon 
which each method is based. 

22. Comment on this method, suggested in a recent book 
on the training of children, — " Tell the child who is afraid 
of the dark that the flowers, grass, trees, birds, and so on, 
are sleeping peacefully and happily out in the night." 

23. Suppose a child has a tendency to become angry 
upon slight provocation, particularly in his relations with 
certain individuals, — could you assist him by suggestion 
to control himself ? 

24. Could you, by suggestion, cure a child of the habit 
of biting his nails ? Describe a case of this sort you have 
known. 

25. Discuss the following in the light of the principles 
of suggestion, — "A soft answer turneth away wrath." 

26. In the same way discuss this sentiment, — " Be not 
overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." 

27. Also this, — " Lead us not into temptation, but 
deliver us from evil." 

28. Many children under present-day urban conditions 
are " finicky " about their food. Parents, as a rule, urge 
them, usually against their desires, to eat certain dishes 
because they are nutritious. Often a parent talks to a child 
before he goes to the table, telling him he must eat this or 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 539 

that article, whether he likes it or not, since it is good for 
him, and he must do as the others do, and so on. Comment 
on this method of influencing a child's dietetic habits. 

29. If in discussing the above question you do not ap- 
prove of the parent's methods, suggest the course that 
should be pursued with a " finicky " child, and state the 
principles involved. 

30. Make out a list of poems best adapted to suggest 
the attitudes mentioned in problem 13. 

31. In the same way make out a list of pictures in ac- 
cordance with instructions given in problem 13. 

32. Are pupils in the high school more easily or less 
easily influenced by suggestion on the part of the teacher 
than pupils in the lower grades of the elementary school ? 
Which group of pupils is the more responsive to physical 
environments ? 

33. Are people born and bred in the country more easily 
or less easily influenced by suggestion than people born 
and bred in the city ? What is the evidence bearing on this 
problem ? 

34. Is Hawthorne's story of " The Great Stone Face," 
already referred to, psychologically sound ? If so, extend the 
principle to familiar situations of daily life. 

35. Is there anything in the common saying that a hus- 
band and a wife grow in time to look alike ? Work out 
the principle involved. 

36. Through a careful study of national and individual 
character and temperament, show what is the peculiar in- 
fluence, if any, upon human nature of living in these various 
regions : — 

(a) In the mountains, as at Leadville, or 

(b) On the prairie, as in North Dakota. 

(c) By the seashore, as at Boston. 

(d) On the banks of great rivers, as the Mississippi or the Rhine. 

(e) In regions noted for clouds and fog, as London or Seattle. 
(/) In regions noted for sunshine, as Monte Carlo or Southern 

California. 



540 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

(g) In regions of perpetual summer, as in Florida. 

(A) In regions of well-nigh perpetual winter, as in northern 

Sweden. 
(i) In regions of changing seasons, as in Berlin or Madison. 
(J) In regions barren of flowers and all vegetation, as at Butte. 

37. What is the influence upon the young of reading the 
details of crimes in the newspapers ? What is the influence 
upon adults ? Cite concrete instances to illustrate your 
answer. 

38. What is the influence upon boys of reading Cooper's 
novels ? Cite specific cases. 

39. Is it good policy to allow criminally inclined persons 
to witness the execution of one condemned to death for 
crime? Why? 

40. A university professor, upon reading Scott's " So- 
cial Education," wrote out the following comments and 
questions. He proposes a number of problems involving 
principles of suggestion, and other principles of social de- 
velopment and education. Discuss each problem in the light 
of principles developed in the text : — 

In chapter i, Professor Scott's main thesis seems to be : The schools 
must develop individual liberty together with public responsibility. Lib- 
erty is to be realized by self-direction, self-organization, self-control ; 
responsibility is to be realized by obedience to the authority of teach- 
ers, of parents, of social causes. 

This chapter has helped to raise anew in my mind the greatest prob- 
lem of the teacher, — how can he coordinate his efforts to develop in 
his students individuality wisely directed for social responsibility ? As I 
see the matter, the efforts of a teacher are to be expended — 

(1) As an instructor : imparting information, knowledge. 

(2) As a director : supervising individual activities in acquiring and 
imparting knowledge. 

(3) As a leader : inspiring individual service for society. 

Several questions and a few criticisms and observations I desire to 
offer, as to proper coordination of these efforts. 

(1) Does the above classification cover all of a teacher's duties ? 

(2) Are there any fields in which a teacher's only duty is imparting 
information ? Not many teachers bridge the gap between the 
first and the second divisions. Nine tenths of the teachers of 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 541 

my high-school and college days did nothing more than impart 
information. 

(3) Would it not be folly to attempt to suggest social relationships 
in a class in Greek grammar, for instance ? 

(4) How far can one wisely attempt to keep these activities dis- 
tinct ? Can the teacher say to himself, " To-day, I will impart 
information only ; to-morrow, I will stimulate independent 
thought in a certain class ; the next day, I will have an oppor- 
tunity to create a desire for public service " ? 

(5) Or is " character " (which may be called an unselfish desire to 
serve society) " a by-product," as President Wilson says ? Is 
it something to be absorbed unconsciously by students ? 

(6) To what extent may a teacher moralize in the classroom ; 
for instance, in American History in dealing with the life of 
Hamilton, the raid of John Brown, or the recognition of 
Panama ? 

(7) One of the wealthy men of , with whom I play golf, fre- 
quently refers to the university in his town as " that so- 
cialistic institution." He unsparingly condemns the attitude 
taken by " advanced thinkers." If a teacher dares not express 
what he believes, does he not lose most of his power of inspira- 
tion ? 

(8) I once took a course in economics under a man who would 
never commit himself as to his own belief. We did not know 
whether he was a high-tariif or a free-trade man. Is this the 
right attitude for the teacher to assume ? Does it not create 
the impression among students that the teacher is timid, or in 
a state of doubt himself ? Would it not be better frankly to 
state one's private judgment ? If the teacher has rightly stim- 
ulated independence and freedom on the part of his students, 
may he not safely expound his convictions, if he is careful to 
state the other side ? Indeed, is not the right to disagree with 
the instructor an essential element in creating liberty f 

(9) Of certain men I have heard it said by students who are pre- 
paring for examination : " Well, old has this hobby. He 

believes so and so. Just touch him on that point and jar the 
other fellow, if you want a high mark." What is the influence 
of such a teacher upon his pupils ? 

(10) After all, is not real power of leadership, in a teacher as in any 
other person, an indefinable element of personality, which can- 
not be reduced to rules or even analyzed ? If a teacher finds 
himself studying the laws of leadership in order that he may 
inspire, does he not thereby show that he has no inspirational 
qualities which can make him a leader ? 



542 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

XVIL IMITATION 

1. Describe the first imitative act of any child you know. 
What was the age of the child at the time the imitation 
occurred ? Give the evidence showing it was a genuine act 
of imitation. 

2. Describe in detail the intellectual and any other re- 
sults of the first imitations of a child. 

3. Write out a list of the more common dramatic per- 
formances of a typical year-old city boy. Of a typical year- 
old girl. Are there any essential differences between the two? 

4. Write out a list of the ordinary impersonations of a 
city-bred boy of seven. Of a city-bred girl of this age. 
What are the essential distinctions between them ? 

5. What do city boys of the age of fifteen imitate most 
freely? What do city girls imitate? Describe a concrete 
case in each instance. 

6. Show in what respects the imitations and impersona- 
tions of boys and girls born and bred in the country differ 
from those of children in the city. Account for any differ- 
ences you find. 

7. What aspect of the life about them do children 
reproduce more or less faithfully in their sandpiles ? Does 
it make a difference whether the children are five, eight, or 
twelve years of age? Are there differences between city 
and country children ? 

8. Describe in detail a concrete case of doll play on the 
part of a girl of four years of age. In what way does this 
play change as the girl develops ? 

9. Discuss the value of doll play for a girl. Ask some 
woman in whose judgment you have confidence just what 
benefit or injury she thinks she received from doll play. 
Would boys receive benefit from playing with dolls ? 

10. Is there any object that serves the boy in his play as 
the doll serves the girl ? Observe this matter for yourself, 
and then ask parents to give their opinion. 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 543 

11. Is the game of marbles imitative? Is it impersona- 
tive ? Work this matter out in detail. 

12. What type of person in the community you know 
best is most freely impersonated by girls of ten years of age ? 
by girls of fifteen years of age ? by boys of these ages ? 

13. Describe the characteristics of the teacher whom 
you imitated most largely during your own school career. 
Say why this particular teacher had so marked an influ- 
ence upon you. Did he or she have a similar influence upon 
your classmates? 

14. As you look back over your school life, do you find any 
teachers whom you endeavored not to copy in any respect ? 
If so, say why they should have affected you in this way. 

15. Are you conscious of copying any individual at your 
present stage of development ? If so, in what particulars, 
and why? Do you meet persons who stimulate you to do 
just the opposite from what they do themselves ? 

16. Describe a case of a child or an adult who acquired 
stuttering, stammering, facial twitching, or any other 
peculiarity through imitation. 

17. Have you known of families in which a dissolute 
father was the means of making his children severely absti- 
nent ? Discuss the principles involved. 

18. Have you known of irritable, fault-finding, shrewish 
mothers who have had self-controlled, quiet, considerate 
daughters ? Discuss the principles involved. 

19. In your opinion, what are the advantages of co- 
education in the elementary school? in the high school? in 
the college ? Are there disadvantages ? 

20. In the co-educational high school you know best, do 
the boys set the fashion in dress and conduct for the girls ? 
Is it the other way around ? Or are the sexes uninfluenced 
by one another in these respects ? 

21. Could you duplicate the following testimony of a 
school principal? Comment on this testimony from the 
standpoint of teaching the evils of smoking : — 



544 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

Several eighth-grade boys who came under my observation last year 
learned to smoke. They lived in a college town, and played basketball 
and bowled at the gymnasium, where they fell in with the college fel- 
lows. Each of them when individually questioned stated voluntarily 
that he learned to smoke because the college men approved of it, and 
rather ridiculed those who did n't. In most instances the boys' fathers 
did not smoke and disapproved of the habit, and the boys really stood 
against the use of tobacco themselves, but they could not face the 
reputation they were likely to have with this one class of associates, in 
case they did not smoke. 

22. The following are concrete examples of imitative and 
allied activities,^ discussed in Chapter XVII of the text. 
Discuss each case, indicating (1) the appropriate age of the 
child or children whose performances are described ; (2) 
the motive of the performer ; (3) the probable effect of the 
imitation upon the individual's intellectual and emotional 
processes, and his adjustment to his environment ; (4) the 
influence upon his character of his impersonation of people 
or things : — 

(a) I watched this child for twenty minutes, and this is what he 
did. He came out of the house, and set off at a trot round 
and round the house. He looked serious. Now and then he 
stopped, and said something to himself. A girl came out of 
the house, and attempted to lead him in. He shook her off, 
saying, " I 'm going to be a horse ! " and began to trot round 
the house again. After a time he went up to the side of the 
house, pawed the ground with his feet, and acted like a horse 
going into a stall. 

(b) Arthur amused himself a part of the afternoon playing feed 
the pig. He had a tin pail, into which he put whatever he 
could lay his hands on. He carried this to a corner of the 
room and emptied it. He held his arm very stiff when he 
carried the full pail, as if it were heavy ; and he would raise 
the pail slowly, taking hold of the bottom to empty it. On 
the way back he would swing the pail lightly. I looked in the 
corner, and found many cards, six tin boxes, some box covers, 
spools, clothespins, apples, a doll, and other toys. He had 
been talking about his pig ; and when he saw me looking at 
the things he said, " I 's feeding my pig." 

^ A number of them are taken, with some modifications, from Russell, 
Child Observations. 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 545 

(c) I heard some one in the next room say, " Bang ! " Then I 
heard my father's voice asking Nathan what he was doing. 
" Shooting partridges," said Nathan. " How many did you 
get ?" "Two." I went to see what Nathan was doing. He 
had an old stove-hook and some clothespins. He would put 
two clothespins inside the hook, and holding it above his 
head, say, "Bang." He did this eight times. 

(c?) Thomas plays sell meat from a wagon. His wagon is the 
inside of a table with a long bolt. When he pushes the bolt 
in he shuts the wagon ; when he pulls it out he opens the 
wagon. He insists on details like this : " Do you want to buy 
any meat ? " " Yes ; what kind have you ? How much is it 
a pound?" "Ten cents." "Bring me in two pounds." — 
" Get your plate and bring out your book." I get a book, as 
requested, and go to the wagon. He wishes me to stand first 
on one side and then on the other, that I may see all the 
meat. He makes believe write in the book, shuts the wagon, 
and goes on to another customer. 

(e) A hand-organ man was playing in the street. Tommy stood 
by, and imitated his movements. The next day I saw Tommy 
in the yard with some other children, playing for them. His 
left hand was the organ, and his right hand turned the crank 
by moving around the left hand. He made the sound " de, 
de, de," etc. Every few minutes he put his hand over his 
shoulder as if to fix a strap, and then walked slowly away, as 
if carrying a heavy load. He then played in another place, 
(y) Daisy made a little inclosure in a corner of the room by 
means of chairs, which she called her house. She was a 
nurse, and the doll was sick. An imaginary doctor was present 
a part of the time, and she conversed with him about the 
sickness. After about twenty minutes the house became a 
schoolroom, and she was a teacher. 

(g) Delia played house with a smaller child. The house was a 
large mat spread in the yard. On one end was a box, sur- 
rounded by four sticks laid in the form of a square. On the 
box were bits of broken glass and crockery arranged as on 
a table. This was the kitchen. Outside this was the parlor. 
Delia, seated in her rocking-chair, was rocking her doll, sing- 
ing, and giving orders to the other child, who was busying 
herself with the dishes. I heard Delia say, " Oh, dear f I want 
to go to that concert to-night, and I don't see how I can with 
seven children to take care of. I never saw such a man as my 
husband is, anyway. He is n't like any other man. He might 
take care of the baby once in a while, anyway, I should think. 
Willyougo withmeif Igo?" They played this about an hour, 



546 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

(h) Lulu. Uncle O , I 'm coining to see you, and you must 

play you are glad to see me. 

O . I can't play now ; I 'm tired. 

Lulu. Oh, I won't make you play hard. How do you do ? 

O . How do you do ? 

Lulu. You would like to have us come in, would n't you ? 

O . Yes. 

Lulu (to the doll). The gentleman says he would like to have 

us come in. (To ) Would you like to have us sit down ? 

. Yes. 

Lulu. Thank you ! we will sit down a few minutes. Don't 
you think my little girl looks like her mamma ? 

O . I guess so. 

Lulu (to the doll). Your uncle thinks you look like me, dear. 
At this point the play was interrupted. 
(i) Hattie put one of her dolls in my lap, placed my hands around 
it in a certain way, and told me to rock. She placed another 
doll in my cousin's lap with the same directions. Pretty soon 
she said to each of us in a whisper, " She 's asleep," and, tak- 
ing the dolls, placed them in a chair, and covered them up 
carefully. Presently she took one up and said, " She 's sick." 
She then took up the other and said, " You 've been slapping 
her ; what did you do that for ? " Then, in a feigned voice, 
" 'Cause I wanted to." Resuming her natural voice, she said, 
" Well, you 'd better not do that again." She laid the sick 
doll down, and bringing the offender to me, asked me to whip 
it. I did so, and then she whipped it very vigorously. She 
then wanted me to go to sleep. She put her arms aronnd 
my neck, and rocked me back and forth, and said, " You go 
to sleep, and sleep till I get my apple eaten up." She went 
on eating an apple, but every little while came to me and 
rocked me as before. She then wanted to hold me. She sat in 
a rocking-chair, and I allowed her to hold me and rock me 
to sleep. She then made believe put me on the bed. During 
this time she often kissed and patted me. 

(j) Harry went to a few of the Murphy temperance lectures. I 
saw him standing on the piazza talking to a boy that plays 
with him. He tossed his arms, and I knew that he was talk- 
ing aloud, though I could not hear what he said. I saw him 
a little later, and asked him what he was playing. He said, 
" I was n't playing; I was Mr. Murphy then, and I 've made 
Willie sign the pledge." 

(k) Frank's father trained a colt. For six days Frank has annoyed 
his mother by playing that he is a horse. When crossing a 
room he stamps his feet; sometimes he goes on all fours ; in 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 547 

the centre of a room he stops suddenly, and kicks into the 
air, describing a circle as he kicks. At another time he faces 
the corner of the room, kicks vigorously, and neighs. As a 
punishment he was shut in a room by himself, but he con- 
tinued his outlandish guttural sounds. When put in a chair 
he still kicked and neighed. When asked to do anything he 
said, " I can't, I 'm a wild horse." On Monday there was to 
be cottage pudding for dinner, and he is very fond of it. In- 
stead of putting his chair in its usual place, his mother placed 
it at a> side-table, where there was nothing but oats and hay. 
When his mother put him in his chair he thought she was 
playing ; then he looked puzzled, and finally cried bitterly, 
saying, " I ain't a horse, I won't be a horse." 

(I) Lizzie was teaching Charlie and Delia how to play " court." 
Charlie and Delia were on the stairs, and Lizzie was at the 
foot. 

Lizzie. Charlie, are you guilty or not guilty ? 
Charlie. Not guilty. 

Lizzie. Delia, are you guilty or not guilty ? 
Delia. Yes 'm. 

Lizzie. Oh, you must n't say that ; you must say guilty or not 
guilty. 

Delia. What is that guilty ? 
Lizzie. Oh, you must say guilty if you want to. 
Delia. Guilty. 

Lizzie. Come here ! (Very sternly.) Hold out your hand ! 
(Lizzie struck the hand.') Now you 've got to go to prison till 
you get good. 

Delia went back to her place on the stairs. 
Lizzie. Now the judge is coming around again. Charlie, are 
you guilty or not guilty ? 
Charlie. Not guilty. 

Lizzie. You 're a good boy. You can go home and never do 
so again. (To Delia.) Now, little girl, are you guilty or not 
guilty ? 
Delia. Giiilty. 

Lizzie. Well, then, I '11 have to punish you some more. Hold 
out your hand. 

Delia. No, I won't. When Charlie minds you, you say he 's 
good. But when I mind you, you say you must punish me. 
Lizzie. But you mtist get whipped if you 're guilty. 
Delia. Well, I 'm not guilty, then. 
Lizzie. We won't play that any more, I guess. 

(m) Three girls were sitting on a doorstep, their faces hidden in 
their hands. Another girl, a little older, was standing in front 



548 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

of them, watching them silently. Presently she said, speaking 
to each in turn, " Your time 's up ! Your time 's up ! Your 
time 's up ! You can go now ! " The three walked away arm in 
arm, while another girl was put on the doorstep to sit with 
her face hidden, under the watch of the older girl. In a few 
minutes the older girl ran after the three who had walked 
away, and seized them quite roughly. One of the three said 
angrily, " No, we ain't drunk ! Me and Carrie did n't take 
any beer at all." The older girl said in a behind-the-scenes 
tone, " Oh, yes ; you must ! " I walked on, but turned to look 
back, when I saw the three on the doorstep again. 

(n) I heard Johnnie and Robbie running around the dining-room, 
and talking about killing Indians. One said he had killed a 
lot of Indians, and the other said he had got to find some 
more Indians to kill. They soon came into the room where I 
sat, and presently something fell on my dress. I found it to 
be a hen's feather, with a needle stuck in the end of it. They 
said it was an arrow. When it stuck upright in anything they 
said they had killed the Indian, when it inclined they had 
only wounded him. 

(o) We had a book containing colored pictures of Indian chiefs, 
and from this we drew the characters of a favorite game for 
rainy days. My oldest brother, about twelve, was the chief, 
my next oldest an old warrior, and a younger one an Indian 
without a title. The chief had a red cotton handkerchief for 
a headdress, and a plaid shawl for a blanket. The warrior 
wore my father's overcoat of hairy cloth. An umbrella 
handle was a gun, and a broom with a piece of cloth tied 
around it was a tomahawk. A skein of yarn, when we could 
get it, was a scalp. My youngest brother and I were the 
people of a village. When we heard the Indians yell we ran 
to the fort, a corner of the room barricaded by two old chairs 
and a broken clothes-horse. I put a stick, my gun, between 
the bars of the clothes-horse, and shot the chief. The other 
Indians entered the fort, the chief came to life, and were 
taken captives. I was dragged out by my hair. I had been 
told to hold back, and resist as much as possible ; but my 
brother pulled my hair so hard I did not dare to after a 
first attempt. We were marched around the room three 
times, and then taken to the Indians' hut to have our fate 
decided. Once I was allowed to become a squaw, and once I 
was allowed to escape. The play usually ended with a war 
dance so noisy that my mother broke it up. 

(p) Estelle takes a stick, and, pointing to the wall, says to her 
dolls, " As I point to the notes, you must sing them. Now all 



EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS 549 

begin at once, and don't lag behind, for that will spoil the 
others." She then sings the notes herself. Sometimes she 
shakes one of the dolls, and says, " Now, you will mind the 
place next time." Last evening, while playing this, she seized 
a doll, and placed it in the corner, face to the wall, and, after 
a few minutes, said, " You may go into the dressing-room 
for making faces when my back is turned, but I saw yon. 

This noon you will go to the office of Mr. T to get a 

whipping." 
(5) Each of these girls sat in a rocking-chair, holding a doll. 
Gertie. How do you do. Missus ? 
Louise. Pretty well, thank you. 
Gertie. Don't this train go fast ? 
Louise. Oh, awful fast ! How is your baby ? 
Gertie. Slie is pretty well, only she got her leg broke off the 
other day. I 'ra taking her to Washington. The President is 
going to fix it. 

Louise. Oh, that 's too bad ! How long does it take to go to 
Washington ? 

Gertie. Only ten days and a week. 
Louise. I should think the poor baby would be dead. 
Gertie. Oh, no, Missus ! I 'm going to be there to-night. 
My husband lives there. Where are you going. Missus ? 
Your baby is real good, ain't she ? 

Louise. Yes, ma'am, she is. I 'm going to Connecticut. My 
Cousin Hattie Nichols lives there, and my Aunt Jane lives 
there. 

Gertie. What is your baby's name ? 

Louise (after hesitating a moment). My baby's name is Gertie. 
Gertie (laughing). Why, that 's my name, and my baby's 
name, too. 

Louise. That 's funny, ain't it ? 

Suddenly Louise said, " Ding-dong, ding-dong ! now the 
train must stop." She then tried to make a sound like a train 
stopping, and said, " This is Connecticut; I'm very sorry to 
go, but I must. Good-by." 
She then left the room. 

Gertie now rocked faster than before, and talked to her doll. 
She said, " Wait a minute, wait a minute; mamma has some- 
thing in her pocket for you." She took out a rubber ring, 
and put it on the doll's head, saying, "You're a nice little 
baby. Here 's Washington ! Do you see my husband, baby ? 
He 's going to take us to the President to fix your poor leg." 
She went into the next room, where Louise was arranging a 
tea-set. 



550 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 

(r) My sister and I used to play " prayer-meeting." We arranged 
our dolls in rows. One of us was the minister. The meeting 
was as orderly as the meetings of grown people usually are. 
Our favorite time for playing it was between sunset and 
supper time, when we could have the sitting-room to our- 
selves. If any one came into the room, the meeting was at 
once closed. 

(s) There was a burying-ground near the schoolhouse. One day 
several of us buried a doll there. It seems as if the doll 
were made for the purpose. We carried small bottles of water 
with us, and wet our eyes with the water, for tears. 

(f) Marion and Horace went to a circus. After they came home I 
saw them trying to suspend themselves from a ladder which 
was resting against a tree, first by their arms, then by their 
feet. When they were forbidden to do this, they went be- 
hind the barn, where they thought they would not be seen, 
and turned somersaults, and tried jumping over a chair. 

(«) I used to arrange all the kitchen chairs in a row, and play 
"school," imagining that the chairs had real occupants. I sat 
in a chair in front, and used a high-chair for a desk. I called 
the classes onto the floor, and asked and answered the ques- 
tions. I enjoyed the play better if my brothers would act as 
pupils. 

(y) These boys play " Indian." They have a tent, and wear 
leather leggings fringed down the outside, gaudy-colored 
horse-blankets on their shoulders, and cocks' feathers in their 
caps. Some of them carry light muskets, others popguns, 
while the smaller ones have only sticks for weapons. I have 
seen them marching in long line, pounding an old boiler, and 
sometimes beating a drum. 

(w) A favorite pastime of ours was to imitate the slaughtering of 
pigs, which we had often seen. We stretched one another on 
the floor, and aimed a large knife at the throat. After stab- 
bing we pretended to rip up the body through the centre. 

(x) These boys frequently have " shows " on Wednesday and 
Saturday afternoons. The last one was an exhibition of pic- 
tures by a magic lantern. The entertainment often consists of 
songs, dialogues, and playing on a harmonica. The actors 
wear old clothes. They have tickets of admission, for which 
they ask a certain number of pins. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Admiration, as distinguished from re- 
spect, 120, 121. See Sociability, Imi- 
tation, Respect. 

Adolescence, effect of development of, 
on sociability, 19-23 ; on communica- 
tion, 31; 3i-37; on tlie feeling of re- 
sponsibility, 110-112; on self-respect, 
123; 130, 131. See Aggression, Anger, 
Communication, Cooperation, Cor- 
rection, Docility, Duty, Educative 
Social Experience, Imitation, Jus- 
tice, Resentment, Respect, Sociability, 
Social tyjjes. Suggestion, Training. 

.ffisthetic interests, tlie development 
of, 235-237. See Social training. 

Aggression, 184-206; the combative at- 
titude, 184-186; interdependence of re- 
sentment and aggression, 184; cause 
and nature of, 184, 185 ; very marked 
before adolescence, 185, 186; methods 
of retaliation, 187, 188; the impulse to 
get even, 187; retaliation upon the 
basis of injury done to one's reputa- 
tion, 188-190; to one's character, 189; 
early methods of preserving group sta- 
bility, 190, 191 ; settlement of conflict 
by muscular contest, 190 ; attitude of 
the group toward combativeness, 191 ; 
genesis of the judicial attitude, 192 ; 
illustrations of the judicial attitude 
in typical self-governing groups, 193, 
194; the principle illustrated at Eton, 
193; at the George Junior Republic, 
193; the sanguinary tendencies of 
boys, 194, 195 ; these tendencies are re- 
vealed in verbal as well as fistic en- 
counters, 105, 196; girls are less san- 
guinary than boys, 196, 197; injuring 
an adversary's reputation, 196; wo- 
men more individualistic than men, 
197; the attitude of the sexes toward 
each other, 197, 198; absence of dis- 
tinctions during early years, 197 ; girls 
less dynamic than boys, 19S; the in- 
fluence of adolescent development 
upon these attitudes, 199, 200; the 
group attitude toward the "sissy- 
boy," 199; sex antipathy because of 
group demands, 199 ; cessation of 
rivalry between the sexes after ado- 
lescence, 200 ; teasing, 200, 201 ; teasing 
by arousing fear, 201-203; teasing by 



calling names, 203, 204; teasing by 
arousing shame, 204 ; teasing among 
primitive children, 204-20G; Kidd on 
fagging among savage children, 204- 
206. 

Aliens, in sociable expression of chil- 
dren, 11-15. See Cooixration, Soci- 
ability. 

Alter-sense, genesis of, 58-60 ; acquisi- 
tion of, 60-62; development and en- 
richment of, 62-65. See Duty. 

Altruistic interests, the development 
of, 240-242. See Social trairiing. 

Anger, absent in the infant, 157; earli- 
est expression of, 158, 159 ; Tanner on 
appearance of, 158, note ; in the typi- 
cal year-old child, 159-160. See Aggres- 
sion, Rese7it')nent. 

Boys, sanguinary tendencies of, 194- 
196. See Aggression, Anger, Compan- 
ions, Coojieration, Correction, Do- 
cility, Justice, Respect, Types. 

Breese, on inhibiting mental states, 
383. 

Calling names. See Resentment. 

Chambers on the tendency of girls to 
emulate male ideals, 413. 

Charitable tendencies, in sociability, 
25-27; before adolescence, 26, 27; in 
different nations, 240-242. 

Church, the opportunity of, in the vil- 
lage, 392. See Suggestion. 

Coercion. See Correction, Critical 
period. Docility. 

Communication, in development, 29- 
52 ; the need of communication, 29-31 ; 
the desire to share experiences, 29, 30 ; 
the function of the passion to com- 
munize, 30; changes in the character 
of the communications with develop- 
ment, 30; influence of adolescence 
upon, 31; the beginning of restraint 
in the communizing activity, 31-33; 
influence of reflection upon, 31, 32; the 
desire for approval, 32 ; the humilia- 
tion of competitors, 32; "tattling," 
32, 33; the tendencies at adolescence. 
34-37 ; the winning of favor through 
communication, 34; group competi- 
tion in communication, 35; commu- 



554 



INDEX 



nicatlon in respect to attachments 
between the sexes, 35; boys' football 
groups, 35, note ; the communications 
of the tif teen-year-old, 36 ; of the col- 
lege boy, 36; of the adult, 36; of the 
specialist, 37; the reticent type, 37- 
40 ; differences in children in the de- 
sire to communicate, 37 ; illustrations 
of these differences, 37-39 ; timidity as 
a cause of reticence illustrated, 37-39, 
note ; illustration of a reticent adult, 
40 ; the social value of the communiz- 
ing activity, 41, 42; learning what is 
of real worth for communication, 41 ; 
the influence of the individual in de- 
terminingpublic opinion. 42^4; in his 
early communizing activity the indi- 
vidual is only a learner, 42-43 ; pur- 
pose of adult communizing activity, 
44 ; individual variation in adult com- 
munication, 44; the influence of the 
environment on the individual's ex- 
pressions, 44-46 ; the influence of the 
group, 45 ; the child's tendency to fol- 
low his own inclination, 46; acting in 
the presence of persons real or ima- 
ginary, 47^9 ; the substitution for 
concrete personalities of feelings of 
public approval, or condemnation of 
conduct, 49 ; the development of re- 
sponsiveness to community senti- 
ment, 49-52 ; concrete personalities in 
the early stages of development, 49 ; 
their consolidation into general and 
public opinion, 50; the method of 
consolidation, 51; the persistence of 
impressive personalities, 52. 

Companions, bases for choice of, 11. 
See Dress, Scholarship, Sociability, 
Social stratification. Wealth. 

Competitive Activity. See Coopera- 
tion. 

Conflict. See Adolescence, Aggression, 
Correction, Critical period, Jus- 
tice, Training. 

Conformity, essential to individual and 
social well-being, 281-283. See Criti- 
cal period, Training, Types. 

Conventions, the child's attitude to- 
ward, 136, 137. See Docility. 

CooLET on early sociability, 5, note ; 
on companionship, 8, 9, note ; on 
choice of companions, 11 ; on selfish- 
ness, 70; on self and other as exclu- 
sive, 71, 72, note; on the child's love 
of action, 411, 412. 

Cooperation, in group education, 295- 
319 ; children's self-discipline in the 
group, 295-297 ; illustrations of princi- 
ples, 295-297 ; leadership in the group. 



297 ; the adult as an outsider, 298 ; 
the teacher as a member of the group, 
298-300 ; the first form of group activ- 
ity in childhood, 302, 303 ; the develop- 
ment of group consciousness, 303, 304 ; 
how the sense of group unity is ac- 
quired, 304, 305; opportunity for play 
the chief requirement, 305, 306; a les- 
son from European civilization, 306, 
307 ; the chief count against the city, 
307, 308; the need of playgrounds, 309; 
a sound mind in a sound body, 310, 
311; playgrounds lessen crime, 311, 312; 
the testimony of playground experts, 
312,313; Secretary of the Philadelphia 
Culture Extension League on the 
value of playgrounds, 312; value of 
the playground conducted under the 
auspices of the University Settlement 
of Northwestern University, 313 ; the 
playground and school discipline, 
313-315; hazing, 314, 315; rivalry in 
group activity, 315-317; the value of 
competitive activity in the school- 
room and on the playground, 317, 318 ; 
the survival of the fittest in competi- 
tive activity, 318, 319. 

Correction, methods of, 346-368 ; the rod 
as a means of correction, 346, 347; the 
use of the whipping-post, 347; the 
tendency in our own country, 347-356 ; 
the tendency in older countries, 356- 
358 ; the results of experiments in Eu- 
ropean countries, 359 ; is the pendulum 
swinging too far in our country ? 360, 
361 ; the treatment of obstinacy, 361, 
362; Locke's view, 361; methods must 
be varied to meet individual peculiar- 
ities, 362, 363 ; control by natural con- 
sequences, 363-365 ; some defects in the 
plan, 365, 366; Spencer on the coer- 
cive system, 365, note ; the responses 
to the child's advances of represent- 
atives of law and order are properly 
natural consequences, 366-368; the 
parent and teacher viewed as agents 
of natural consequences, 367, 368. 

Critical period in social education, 274- 
293; the infant's reaction upon his so- 
cial environment, 274, 275 ; the child 
as an expert in coercing his caretak- 
ers, 275, 276; misinterpretation of 
childish expression, 276, 277; how the 
child is encouraged in his coercive 
tendencies, 277-279 ; individual differ- 
ences in the nonconforming disposi- 
tion, 279,280; the child's winsomeness 
often a disadvantage, 280, 281; Locke 
on coercion, 280, note; conformity es- 
sential to individual or social well-be- 



INDEX 



555 



ing, 281-283; Locke on submission to 
authority, 282, 283 ; new times bring 
new problems in social training, 283, 
285; the governess in social education, 
283, 284 ; dispersed authority renders 
good social training impossible, 285, 
28G; the home and the scliool,287, 288; 
true sympatliy for childhood, 288-290 ; 
leadership is what is needed in home 
and school, 290-293. 

Crying, treatment of, 162, 163. See 
Correction, Critical period. Train- 
ing. 

Culture, child's attitude toward, 136, 
137. See Docility. 

Dancing, influence of, in social train- 
ing, 311-343. See Adolescence. 

Danger, the feeling of, in sociability, 9, 
10. See Sociability. 

Dewey on social training in the school, 
262, 263, note. 

Dickens on the social training of 
children, 258, 259. 

Differentiation of persons from things, 
5. See Duty. 

Docility, 135-155; the child as a learner, 
135, 136 ; the varying attitude of docil- 
ity, 136; the child's attitude toward 
most of the culture and the conven- 
tions of society, 136, 137 ; convention 
as a load on feeling, inoperative in 
childhood, 137, 138; the change at ad- 
olescence, 138, 139; the appreciation 
of conventional attitudes, 138; the 
process of assimilating social con- 
ventions, 139, 140; the attitude of the 
coerced child, 139, 140; the child's re- 
actions upon conventions forced on 
him, 140-142; the antagonistic atti- 
tude, 140, 141 ; table manners, 141 ; the 
learner turned teacher, 142, 143; is 
the child docile toward the wise ? 143- 
145 ; the docile attitude of the adult, 
143, 144; the child, now learner, now 
teacher, 144, 145 ; the child's attitude 
is predominantly dynamic rather 
than assimilative, 145-147; the child's 
lack of docility toward his elders, 145, 
146; the child's indifference toward 
rules of health, 146, 147; indocility 
with respect to ethical instruction, 
147, 148; the inevitable conflict be- 
tween the child and the adult, 148, 149 ; 
difference in capacity to foresee con- 
sequences, 148, 149; the growing do- 
cility of the youth, 149 ; docility in the 
school, 149-151; the child's indiffer- 
ence toward learning and culture, 149; 
receptive toward what is of present 



value, 150; pupils as " natural " tru- 
ants, 151; docility as affected by 
broadening experience, 151-153; the 
influence of environment upon, 151, 
152 ; imitation as a method of learn- 
ing, 153; the dramatic tendency, 153- 
155 ; prominent in early years, 153 ; as 
a means of adjustment, 154 

Dramatization, in school, 406-409. See 
Docility, Imitation, Sociability. 

Dress distinctions, as affecting socia- 
bility, 16, 17. See Cooperation, Socia- 
bility, Social stratification. 

Drummond on the influence of per- 
sonality, 375. 

Duty, 55-83; absence of the sentiment 
of obligation in infancy, 55, 56; the 
passion for self -gratification, 56; Sull}' 
on, 55, note; Perez on, 55; illustra- 
tions of, 55, note ; origin of the idea of 
persons as distinguished from things, 
56-58; indications of this distinction, 
56; the meaning of alter, 56, 57; dawn- 
ing sense of duty, 58 ; the genesis of the 
alter-sense, 58-60 ; the influence of im- 
itation on, 58 ; of the reactions of the 
alter on, 58 ; instinctive appreciation 
of expression, 59, 60; essential expe- 
riences in acquiring the alter-sense, 
60-62; effect of approval and disap- 
proval, rewards and punishments on, 
61 ; desirable and undesirable actions, 
62; Kirkpatrick on, 62, note; devel- 
opment and enrichment of the con- 
ception of the alter, 62-65; the mean- 
ing of self to the child, 64; interpre- 
tation of the alter's expressions, 65-68 ; 
on the basis of experience, 66, 67 ; the 
evaluation of the alter as compared 
with the ego, 68 ; popular notions re- 
specting the relation of the self and 
the alter, 68-70 ; the egoistic attitude 
of the child, 68, 69; the role of the 
alter with development, 69 ; analogies 
between the social and the biological 
organism, 69, 70; Cooley on selfish- 
ness, 70; are the interests of the ego 
and the alter identical? 70-72 ; the bio- 
logical illustration further consid- 
ered, 70, 71 ; egoism viewed from the 
standpoint of development, 71, 72; 
Cooley on self and other as exclu- 
sive, 71, 72, note; mental attitudes in 
childhood, 72-76; absence of delibera- 
tion in childhood, 73; attitude toward 
the helpless and needy, 74; illustra- 
tion of the altruistic impulse of a 
five-year-old child, 74, note ; Kirkpat- 
rick on the absence of selfishness in 
childhood, 74, note; growth in altruis- 



556 



INDEX 



tic action with reflection as viewed 
from without, 75; as viewed from 
within, 75; instinctive altruistic ac- 
tion, 75; genesis of tlie sense of duty, 
76-79; influence of social experience 
upon, 76 ; the consciousness of con- 
crete personalities, 77; the role of con- 
science, 77; of ideal spectators, 78; 
the role of religion in the develop- 
ment of conscience, 79, 80; influence 
of religious personages, 80; the real- 
istic character of the child's religious 
conceptions, 80-83; mistakes in reli- 
gious teaching, 82; the need in reli- 
gious teaching, 83. 

Educative social experience, 248-272; 
education and social efficiency, 248- 
250 ; the need of education for social 
adjustment, 249; educative social ex- 
perience the first requisite, 250-252; 
Quintilian on the training of the ora- 
tor, 251, note; the social training of 
the only child, 252, 253 ; hard knocks 
are essential to efEective learning, 
253, 254 ; present-day tendencies, 254, 
255 ; mere gregariousness not enough 
for social development, 255, 256; the 
need of reflection, 255; suggestions 
from literature, art, science, and the 
like, 256 ; suppression as a method of 
social ti'aining, 257-260 ; the teachings 
of our forefathers as found in the 
Babies' Book, 257; Dickens's charac- 
terization of the training of children, 
258, 259; Locke on the training of chil- 
dren, 260, note; the situation in the 
public schools, 260, 261; Quintilian on 
public education, 260; the virtues de- 
veloped by the school, 260, 261 ; the 
typical school is modeled on the static 
plan, 261-263; Dewey on the social 
training of the school, 262, 263, note; 
the principle partially realized in the 
kindergarten, 264; the question of 
moral instruction, 265-268; formal 
ethical instruction, 265 ; the program 
of moral instruction in the French 
schools, 265-268 ; the method of teach- 
ing moral principles, 268, 269; the pu- 
pil must be led to see the social ne- 
cessity for every moral attitude urged 
upon him, 269-271 ; moral instruction 
during adolescence, 271, 272; keeping 
the attention properly occupied, 272. 
See Cooperation, Correction, Critical 
period, Imitation, Natural Conse- 
quences, Suggestion. 

Ego. See Duty, Justice, Self-respect, 
Sociability. 



Environment, influence of, on the indi- 
vidual's expression, 44-46. 

Equity, the child's sense of, 106. See 
Justice. 

Eton, illustrative of the judicial atti- 
tude in self-governing groups, 193. 

European civilization. See Coopera- 
tion, Correction. 

Evil, the suggestion of, 377-380. See 
Suggestion. 

Exercises and problems, 434-550 ; socia- 
bility, 434-443; communication, 443- 
449; ethical attitudes, 449-^55; justice, 
455-463; respect, 463-470; docility, 470- 
476; resentment, 476-481; aggression, 
481-485; from a national standpoint, 
486-493; educative social experience, 
493-499; the critical period, 499-509; 
cooperation in group education, 509- 
515 ; problems of training, 515-527; 
methods of correction, 527-535; sug- 
gestion, 535-542 ; imitation, 542-550. 

Extenuating circumstances, develop- 
ment of a sense of, 103-105. See J^^s- 
tice. 

Favorites, in sociable expressions of 
children, 11-15. See Cooperation, So- 
ciability. 

Folk dances in the schools, 342, 343. 
See Training. 

George Junior Republic, illustrative of 
the judicial attitude of self-govern- 
ing groups, 193. 

Girls, less sanguinary than boys, 198. 
See Aggression, Anger, Chambers, 
Companions, Cooperation, Correc- 
tion, Docility, Justice, Respect, Types. 

Governess, in social education, 283, 284. 
See Critical period. 

GuYAU on positive suggestion, 386. 

Hatred, development of the attitude 
of, 169-171. See liesentment. 

Health, the child's attitude toward, 146, 
147. See Docility. 

Home and the school, 287, 288. See 
Correction, Critical period, Sugges- 
tion, Tradning. 

Hostility, absent in the infant, 157. See 
Jiesentment. 

Humiliation, appearance of the atti- 
tude of, 124. See Respect. 

Hltntington on unconscious instruc- 
tion, .376. 

Imitation, 396-421 ; group homogeneity, 
396, 397 ; the treatment of the excep- 
tional individual, 396 ; familiar illus- 



INDEX 



557 



trations of imitative activity, 397, 398 ; 
conditions governing the child's imi- 
tations, 398,399; at first tlie general 
type of the action only is imitated, 
398; the child's interest in the execu- 
tion of an act, 399; personation in 
childhood, 400, 401 ; personation be- 
fore adolescence, 401; constructing an 
imaginary environment, 401 ; Plato on 
the moral effect of dramatization, 
402, 403 ; the value of personating ac- 
tivity, 404, 405 ; dramatizing work in 
the school, 40G, 407; theatrical proper- 
ties are not essential, 408, 409; person- 
ation is a sort of vicarious adjustment, 
409, 410 ; effect of, on the attitude of 
children toward the social environ- 
ment, 409, 410; toward school require- 
ments, 410 ; dominant personalities in 
any community, 411, 412; Cooley on 
the child's love of action, 411,412; are 
masculine or feminine personalities 
dominant with the young? 412,413; 
Chambers on the tendency of girls to 
emulate male ideals, 413 ; the absence 
of male teachers in elementary and 
secondary schools, 413; imitation of 
abnormal traits, 414, 415; the quar- 
antine of nervous and moral dis- 
orders, 415-417; medical inspection 
in England, France, and Germany, 
416 ; the situation in our own country, 
417, 418; shallow sentimentalism in 
dealing with sub-normal children in 
the schools, 418, 419 ; does a copy pre- 
sented to the young for imitation 
sometimes arouse antithetic action ? 
420, 421. 

Indignation, development of attitude 
of, 171, 172; distinction from anger, 
172. See Resentment. 

Intellectual interests, the development 
of, 237, 238. See Social training. 

Irritability, among the members of a 
group, 168, 169. See Resentment, 

Jealousy, appearance of, 172-174; causes 
of, 174-188 ;duringadolescence, 181, 182. 

Justice, 86-112; basal experience in the 
development of the sentiment of, 86, 
87 ; effect of sympathy, pity, and 
mercy, 87; equality of rights and re- 
sponsibilities limited to members of 
a class, 87, 88; justice as a factor in 
social stratification, 88; the role of 
conflict in the child's first social ad- 
justments, 88-90; the fundamental 
meaning of justice, 89; the method 
of the first lessons in justice, 00, 91; 
appearance of the sense of property 



right, 91, 92 ; implications of the sense 
of right, 91 ; the appropriativeness of 
the infant, 92; give-and-take rela- 
tions in developing sense of justice, 
92; development of appreciation of 
the right of pcssession, 92-94 ; effect 
of the alter's reaction, 93; learning 
property rights, 94; developmental 
changes in respect to principles of 
ownership, 95, 96; reconstruction of 
principles of ownership with changes 
in society, 96; the role of positive 
instruction in developing the senti- 
ment of justice, 96, 9*7; purposeful ed- 
ucative training by the group, 97, 98; 
evidence that the sentiment of jus- 
tice is the product primarily of social 
reaction, 98; instinctive elements in 
the sentiment of justice, 99, 100; in- 
stinctive tendencies to defend the 
weak, 99; the reflex character of the 
sentiment of justice in the beginning, 
100-103; lack of consistency in chil- 
dren's views of justice, 101, 102; de- 
velopment of an appreciation of ex- 
tenuating circumstances, 103-105; the 
favoring of age a matter of social 
inheritance, 104, 105; development of 
an appreciation of motive in the 
alter's actions, 105-109; the child's 
code of ethics and equity, 106 ; social 
reactions as giving rise to a sense of 
motive and intention, 107, 108; de- 
velopment of the sense of responsi- 
bility, 109, 110 ; the general sense of re- 
sponsibility, 110 ; the effect of adoles- 
cent development upon the feeling 
of responsibility, 110-112 ; the growing 
idea of responsibility. 111; taking 
account of natural abilities. 111. 

KrRKPATRiCK, on the desire for com- 
panionship, 6; on the absence of 
selfishness in childhood, 74, note. 

Leadership, as inspiring obeisance, in 
childhood, 120; the chief need in 
home and school, 290-293; in the 
group, 297 ; combined with compan- 
ionship, 335-337. See Aggression, Co- 
operation, Critical period. Socia- 
bility. 

Lineage, as affecting social stratifi- 
cation, 23. See Sociability, Social 
stratification. 

Locke, on the training of children, 260, 
note; on coercion, 280, note; on sub- 
mission to authority, 282, 283; on the 
treatment of obstinacy, 361 ; views 
on the suggestion of evil, 378. 



558 



INDEX 



Medical inspection, in England, 
France, and Germany, 416; the situa- 
tion in our own country, 417, 418. 

Mercy. See Justice. 

Moral instruction, 265-272; formal in- 
struction in, 265; in the French 
schools, 266-268 ; efficient methods in, 
268, 269. See Educative social expe- 
rience. 

Motive, development of a sense of, in 
the altar's reactions, 105-109. See Jus- 
tice. 

Natural consequences, as a method of 
control, 363-366; some defects in 
the plan, 365, 366; Spencer on, 365. 
See Cooperation, Correction, Resent- 
ment. 

Negation, as a method of training, 383. 
See Suggestion. 

Neutral attitudes, in childhood, 72-76. 
See Duty. 

Obligation, sentiment of, in infancy, 
55, 56. See Duty. 

Obstinacy, the treatment of, 361, 362; 
Locke's view of, 361. See Correction. 

Only child, the social training of, 252, 
253. See Cooperation, Duty, Educa- 
tive social experience. Justice. 

Ownership, development of the sense 
of, 95, 96. See Justice. 

Perez, on self -gratification, 55; on the 
appearance of anger, 158, note ; views 
on the appearance of jealousy, 172, 
note. 

Personalities, dominant in any com- 
munity, 411, 412. See Cooperation. 

Personation. See Imitation. 

Persons, differentiation of, from 
things, 5. 

Pity. See Justice. 

Plato, on the suggestion of evil, 377 ; on 
the moral effect of dramatization, 402, 
403. 

Playgrounds, need of, 310, 311 ; function 
of, 312-315. See Communication, Co- 
operation, Training. 

Pliny, on the appearance of the first 
smile, 4, note. 

Possession, development of the sense 
of, 92-94. See Justice. 

Problems. See Exercises and problems. 

Property Rights, appearance of sense 
of, 91, 92. See Aggression, Justice, Re- 
sentment. 

Quarantine, of nervous and moral dis- 
orders, 415, 417. See Imitation. 



Qdintilian, on the training of the ora- 
tor, 251, note; on public education, 
260. 

Rage, expression of, 161-164. See Re- 
sentment. 

Religion, the role of, in the development 
of conscience, 79, 80; the teaching of, 
82, 83. See Duty. 

Remorse, appearance of the attitude of, 
124. See Respect. 

Reputation, the child's indifference to, 
126-128. See Correction, Respect. 

Resentment, 157-182; the infant's atti- 
tude as a non-resistant one, 157, 158 ; 
absence in infancy of anger and hos- 
tility, 157 ; the attitude of supplica- 
tion, 158 ; the earliest expression of 
anger, 158, 159; the defiant attitude, 
158; Tanner on the appearance of 
anger, 158, note; Perez's view, 158, 
note; effect of manifestations of 
anger on the alter, 159; Major's view, 

159, note; the typical year-old child 
is angry much of the time, 159, 160; 
the demands of the unrestrained 
child, 160; the development of resent- 
ment as a personal emotion, 160, 161 ; 
inanimate objects as inciting anger, 

160, 161 ; change of attitude with de- 
velopment, 161 ; methods of express- 
ing rage, 161-164 ; the purposeless ex- 
pression of the infant, 161 ; the pur- 
poseful reaction of the year-old, 161 ; 
" calling names " in anger, 162; cry- 
ing in anger, 162, 163; the sullen atti- 
tude, 164; instinctive manifestation 
of anger, 164 ; situations which stimu- 
late the attitude of anger, 165, 166; 
anger as affected by intention of the 
alter, 166 ; the function of anger in 
social relations, 166, 167; conditions 
which favor the development of 
irritability among the members of a 
group, 168, 169 ; the influence of out- 
side associations, 168; experiences 
essential to good fellowship, 168, 169 ; 
development of the attitude of ha- 
tred, 169-171 ; the temporary character 
of childish hostility, 170 ; the changing 
attitude which comes with adoles- 
cence, 170; revenge, 171; the develop- 
ment of the attitude of indignation, 
171, 172; distinction between indig- 
nation and anger, 172; appearance 
of the attitude of jealousy, 172-174; 
Perez and others on jealousy, 172, 
note; situations which incite the 
attitude of jealousy, 174-177; competi- 
tion for favors, 174, 175; rivalry, 176; 



INDEX 



559 



conditions favoring the development 
of jealousy, 177, 180; sclioolroom jeal- 
ousies, 178-181; effect of school dis- 
tinctions, 176, 180; jealousy during 
the adolescent period, 181, 182; sex 
recognition and appreciation, 181. 

Respect, 115-133 ; characteristics of re- 
spect as a social phenomenon, 115, 
116 ; nonconformity with social stand- 
ards, 115; community reaction upon 
the individual's conduct, 116; re- 
spect is a restrained, appreciative 
attitude, 116, 117 ; demonstrative re- 
action in certain cases of social or 
anti-social conduct, 117; respect for 
institutions and superiors, 117-119; 
effect of, on social stability, 118; re- 
spect vs. the observance of conven- 
tional proprieties, 119, 120; respect 
vs. admiration, 120, 121 ; chieftainship 
rather than excellence as a motive 
for obeisance, 120; the meaning of 
self-respect, 121, 122; favoring the 
alter vs. favoring the self, 122 ; origin 
of the attitude of self -respect, 122-124 ; 
relation of self-respect to respect for 
others, 122; changes at adolescence, 
123; appearance of the attitudes of 
shame, humiliation, remorse, self- 
esteem, etc., 124, 125; the subjective 
attitude after adolescence, 124; the 
child's reaction to reproof, 125, 126; 
the child's indifference to his reputa- 
tion, 126-128 ; absence of ethical pride 
in infancy, 127 ; resistance to accusa- 
tions of wrongdoing, 128; the attitude 
of respect is taken in view primarily 
of the motive of action, 128, 129; the 
influence of adolescent development 
upon the attitude of self-respect, 
130, 131 ; the effect upon the individual 
of love of self-respect, 131 ; the effect 
upon the attitude of self-respect of 
the development of sex appreciation, 
132, 133. 

Responsibility, development of the 
sense of, 109-112. See Justice. 

Revenge, development of the attitude 
of, 171. See Resentment. 

Rivalry, development of, 176 ; cessation 
of, between sexes after adolescence, 
200. See Cooperation, Imitation, Re- 
sentment. 

ROYCE on inhibition, 384. 

Scholarship, influence of, on sociable ex- 
pression, 23. See Sociability, Respect. 

School, as a social centre, 391, 392. See 
Educative social experience, Social 
training. 



Self-governing groups. See Coopera- 
tion, Eton, George Junior Republic, 
Only child. 

Self-respect. See Respect. 

Sentimentalism, in dealing with sub- 
normal children, 418, 419. See Criti- 
cal period. Training. 

Shame, appearance of attitude of, 124, 
125. See Adolescence. 

Smile, the first appearance of, 4. 

Sociability, in development, 3-28; in- 
stinctive manifestations of, 3-6 ; the 
child's early reactions are vague and 
indefinite, 3; development of appre- 
ciation of values in the environment, 
3; earliest attempts at evaluation, 4; 
the first smile, 4; Pliny on, 4, note; 
the desire to commune with persons, 
4; indications of awareness of per- 
sonal presence, 5; differentiation of 
persons from objects, 5; rudiments 
of sociability, 5; Cooley on, 5, note; 
communing with objects other than 
persons, 6; passion for personal inter- 
course, 6, 7; Sully on the instinctive 
sociability of children, 6; desire for 
companionship of racial origin, 6; 
Kirkpatrick quoted, 6; service not 
the only source of pleasure to the 
child from personal relations, 7; the 
feeling of dependence as one source 
of sociable expression, 7-11 ; the need 
of companions in adjustment, 8; Coo- 
ley on companionship, 8, 9, note; the 
feelings of danger in sociability, 9, 
10; the appearance of the highest 
form of sociable feeling, 10, 11 ; first 
manifestation of interest in personal 
worth, 10; effect of religious feelings 
on sociability, 10; decline of interest 
in personal presence, 11; favorites 
and aliens among children, 11-15 ; ba- 
sis for choice of companions, 11; Coo- 
ley on the choice of companions, 11 ; 
estimation of static goodness, 12; 
concrete illustrations of this princi- 
ple, 12; appearance of the boastful or 
egotistic trait, 13; discipline of the 
individual by the group, 13; sociabil- 
ity as conditioned by equality, 13; 
the relation of a group to its leader, 
14; to a bully, 14; moral and intellec- 
tual qualities as bases for sociable 
expression, 14, 15; the influence upon 
the child of adult social stratifica- 
tion, 15, 16. 

Social stratification, before adoles- 
cence, 15; social groupings as affected 
by parental attitudes, 16; sociability 
on the basis of dress distinctions, 16, 



560 



INDEX 



17; on the basis of intellectual attain- 
ments, 17-19; superiority in books as 
affecting groupings among boys, 17; 
among girls, 18; social groupings of 
children in European countries, 18; 
influence of adolescent development 
upon sociability, 19-23; wealth as a 
factor in groupings, 20 ; re-grouping 
during adolescence, 20; groupings 
due to social organizations, 21, 22 ; re- 
groupings of boys as influenced by 
girls, 22 ; social stratification on the 
basis of economic status, 23-25 ; effect 
of economic independence on socia- 
ble expression, 23 ; influence of line- 
age, 23 ; of scholarship, 24, 25 ; chari- 
table tendencies in sociability, 25-27 ; 
the Y. M. C. A. as promoting socia- 
bility, 25, 26; charitable tendencies 
before adolescence, 26, 27. 

Social training, from a national stand- 
point, 229-245 ; light on our American 
problems from the experience of 
older civilizations, 229, 230; the real 
function of education, 231; the cru- 
cial period in the life of a nation, 232, 
233; the lesson taught by decadent 
peoples, 233 ; the situation in Ameri- 
can life, 233; the chief problem in ed- 
ucation, 234 ; development of aesthetic 
interests, 235-237; development of 
intellectual interests, 237, 238; lessons 
for our American schools, 238; tend- 
encies in our own country, 239, 240; 
the tendency in the schools, 239; con- 
temporary movements, 240 ; develop- 
ment of sound altruistic interests, 
240-242 ; charitable tendencies in dif- 
ferent nations, 240, 241 ; teaching self- 
helpfuhiess, 241,242; development of 
industrial interests, 242, 243; develop- 
ment of individual initiative and effi- 
ciency, 243, 244 ; conformity to estab- 
lished law, 244, 245. 

Social types, 209-224; the principle of 
social types, 209 ; individual variabil- 
ity recognized in popular philosophy, 
209, 210 ; are there types in childhood 
and youth? 210, 211; the adaptable 
type, 211 ; the weak type, 212, 213; the 
tactful type, 213, 214 ; the development 
of the adaptable child into the tact- 
ful and diplomatic individual, 214; 
the unadaptable child, 214-216; his 
attitude toward his elders, 215; the 
impertinent and impudent types, 216, 
217; the attitude of scorn, 217, 218; 
its prominence in the static type, 
218; the frank, open type, 218; the de- 
ceitful type, 218 ; the communicative 



type, 219, 220; the self-conscious type, 
220 ; the dramatic type, 220, 221 ; the 
hectoring type, 222; the meek type, 
222, 223; developmental transforma- 
tion in types, 223, 224. 
Suggestion, 370-393; the general char- 
acter of suggestion, 370, 371 ; the nat- 
ural history of an act of suggestion, 
371-373; anecdote of Frederick Vil- 
liers, 372, 373; the principle of sugges- 
tion stated, 373-375; the influence for 
good or ill of the personality of the 
trainer, 375-377; Drumraond on the 
influence of personality, 375; Holmes 
on personal influence, 375, 376, note; 
Huntington on unconscious instruc- 
tion, 376; the suggestion of evil, 377- 
379; Plato's doctrine, 377; Aristotle's 
view, 378; Locke's view, 378 ; Bacon's 
view, 378 ; the view of modern psy- 
chology, 379, 380; the attractiveness of 
evil and vice, 380; the treatment of 
timidity as a typical undesirable atti- 
tude, 380-382; negation as a method 
of training, 383; Breeze on inhibit- 
ing mental states, 383 ; positive sug- 
gestion as a method of training, .384, 
385; Royce on inhibition, 384; Guyau 
on positive suggestion, 386; special 
problems of village life, 386-388; the 
immoral influence of bill-boards, 387, 
388; home influences in the village, 
389,390; boy-life in the towns of a 
western state, 390, 391 ; the opportunity 
of the school in the village, 391, 392; 
the function of manual training, 391 ; 
the school as a social centre, 391, 392; 
the opportunity of the church, 392 ; 
practical methods of improvement, 
392, 393; the vacation schools, 392, 
note; the need of wholesome, inter- 
esting occupation, 394; making the 
home attractive, 394; cooperation of 
the churches, 393. 

Sully, on instinctive sociability of 
children, 6; on self -gratification, 55, 
note. 

Supplication, in infancy, 158. See Re- 
sentment. 

Suppression, as a method of social 
training, 257-260. See Correction, 
Training. 

Survival of the fittest. See Cooperation. 

Sympathy, for childhood, 288-290. See 
Justice. 

Tannek, on appearance of anger, 158, 
note. 

Teasing, 200-206. See Aggression, So- 
cial types. 



INDEX 



561 



Training, problems of, 321-343; a typ- 
ical instance of conflict in the train- 
ing of children, 321, 322; differing 
points of view, 322, 323 ; personal traits 
that incite resistance, 323, 324 ; the fu- 
tility of much verbal correction, 324, 
325 ; how commands are made effec- 
tive, 325-327 ; commands that do not 
reach the child's focus of attention, 
327-329; how indifference to com- 
mands is developed in children, 329- 
331 ; qualities essential in a success- 
ful trainer, 331; Hamlet as a type of 
trainer, 332, 333 ; relation between the 
child and his trainer, 333-335 ; Locke's 
views, 333 ; the situation in the Amer- 
ican home, 334, 335; can leadership 
and companionship be combined in 
the same individuals ? 335, 337 ; the 
need in American life, 337; a danger 



in American life, 337-339; the evil of 
early sophistication, 339-341 ; keeping 
high-school life simple, 339; concern- 
ing dancing, 341, 342; folk dances in 
the schools, 342, 343. 

Truancy, as " natural " for children, 
151. See Docility. 

Types. See Social types. 

Village life, special problems of, 386- 
395. See Suggestion. 

Wealth, as a factor in Social stratifi- 
cation, 20. 

Whipping-post. See Correction. 

Winsomeness, often a disadvantage 
to a child, 280, 281. See Critical pe- 
riod. 

Wise, attitude of the child toward the, 
143-145. See Docility. 



CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS 
U . S . A 



3CT 7 1909 



Ii 



